Margaret's Diamond Nuzlocke
by Ambergem16
Summary: Margaret never really had an exciting life in the small and quiet town of Twinleaf. Unlike most people, she was never interested in becoming a Pokemon trainer when she was young. But after she and her friend Trevor get into trouble with Professor Rowan, they both get thrown into the world of Pokemon, where there was more in store for them than any of them imagined.
1. Chapter 1: A Flaming Hatred

I sat bored in front of my TV, watching some shiny-hunting show my friend told me about. Even though I've told him that I didn't like these kinds of shows, he wouldn't stop bugging me about it until I saw it. It was finally over, and I was surprised I hadn't fallen asleep by then.

"Margaret!" My mom called me from downstairs. "Your friend Trevor is here!"

I groaned, knowing that he was here to talk on and on about how cool today's episode was, even though to me it was just a bunch of people aimlessly wandering around a swamp for a mis-colored Gyrados.

"Coming..." I dragged myself down the stairs.

"You'd better hurry, he said it was an _emergency_ this time." she said with a sarcastic tone.

I rolled my eyes and headed for the door, where Trevor joyfully waited for me. The split second I opened it up, to my surprise, he started talking all about that TV show.

"Maggie!You saw the episode, didn't you?Wasn't it so, so cool?!Remember that one part where the red Gyarados _leaped_ out of the water and made a huge splash to knock their boat over?I wish I could be one of the Shiny Chasers like them!And then-"

"Arceus Christ Trevor, slow down! I know you like this show but I can hardly understand a word you're-"

"Ohmygosh, I just got the best idea! What if there was a Gyrados like the one on the show in Verity Lake? We could go over there and look for one ourselves! Cmon, let's get over there right now!" He excitedly clutched my wrist and turned to go to the lake before I slipped out.

"Woah woah woah, slow down! First of all, what have I said about grabbing my hand against my will? Second of all, do you have any idea how rare these shinies are? We could be out there for _days_ and find nothing. Even if we do find the Gyrados, we don't have any pokemon to fight it!"

Trevor exhaled and slumped his shoulders.

"We're not gonna fight it, duh! I just wanna get out there to see it! Now let's go!"

He took my wrist again, with a firm grip this time. Struggling to break free, I yelled for help.

"MOM!"

"Yes, yes, that's nice honey. Don't go in the tall grass!" She ignored me as I was literally dragged out the door.

"Trevor, I won't run away if you just let me go, okay?!"

He stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at me.

"Promise?"

"Promise..."

He gleefully dropped my hand as I got back on my feet. I rubbed my wrist and seriously considered sneaking off, but a promise was a promise. Hopefully Trevor would give up after his short patience wore thin, and I would be able to go back home soon. Once we got to Lake Verity, I looked out and hardly saw a single splash.

"Trevor, honestly, this old Lake is ridden with Magikarp. We'll be lucky if we find even _one_ Gyrados. What makes you think a red one will show up?"

He nudged me playfully. "C'mon, quit being a pessimist. Sure the chances are slim, but just the fact that the chance is there is enough to at least stay for a bit. Pleeeeease?" He got down on his knees and even did those stupidly adorable puppy eyes to keep me here. Not even I could say no to that face, even if he was annoying.

"Fine...! I'll keep looking with you, okay?"

"Yay!" He cheered, giving me a giant hug.

"AHG GET OFF!" I quickly shoved him, separating us.

"I thought I've told you I am _not_ a hugger!"

Trevor sprang back up with a silly grin on his face. "That doesn't mean I can't force you to be!"

I groaned and made sure to keep my distance between him during our search.

Trevor wandered over near the edge of the tall grass. "If I could get past this grass, I could get a better view of the other side..."

I tried keeping him away. "No way, you and I both know that Pokemon could attack you in there, and we don't have any pokemon of our own to defend ourselves."

"Don't worry, I won't go too far. I won't be in there long enough for a pokemon to get me either! ..Huh...?" He looked down at something in the grass, and I cautiously went in after him.

"Careful in there Trevor! What did you find?"

"It's a suitcase... Someone must have left it here. Look, it says 'ROWAN' in the corner.. Oh, I bet this is Professor Rowan's! I think he lives in Sandgem town, we should go return it to him!"

As much as I didn't want to go give an old guy his suitcase back, if it meant leaving the lake, I was in. But before I had a chance to even say a word, a few Starly flew in and looked like they were about to attack. Trevor immediately started panicking, and I swear he nearly broke down in tears.

"GAHHH! Maggie, we're DOOOOOOMED! Tell my children I love them!"

"Trevor, you don't have any children and we're not gonna die! Quit freaking out, I'll think of something!"

I thought for a moment, and decided to see what was in the suitcase. I opened it up, conveniently finding three Pokeballs in there. Without thinking, I threw one at Trevor and took one for myself.

"Here, use this to fight, Trevor!"

"Owww...! Why'd you have to throw so hard?"

" _Just battle the stupid bird already!_ Now let's see what I have..."

I sent out the pokemon, and a Chimchar came out. He scowled at me before realizing he was up against a Starly. I expected him to take care of it on his own, but instead he looked back at me angrily.

"Are you just gonna stand there or tell me to attack this thing?"

"Oh, uh... Scratch..?"

"There ya go kid..."

I had learned about battling, but never actually been in one, so I was a bit uneasy being thrown into my first attack. Chimchar did as he was told, but the Starly stayed and used Tackle. I could tell he didn't take much damage, so I hesitantly told him to use Scratch again, and this time the bird was gone for good. It quickly fled, leaving me some space to finally breathe for a second. Then Trevor was back.

"Woah, my Piplup was so strong against that Starly! I mean, it could've killed me! Maggie, your quick thinking totally saved my life!"

"Heh... The worst those Starly could've done was a few bad scratches Trev, I didn't save your life. I guess we should go back and return these pokemon though."

As if on que, some worried kid came running up to us. He saw the open suitcase and how the two pokemon were out, and got in a bit of a panic.

"You two... You used those Pokemon? Oh man, how am I supposed to explain this to Rowan?!"

He grabbed the suitcase and ran off in a hurry without even taking the pokemon back.

"Well that was... Odd," I said.

"As much as I already like this cute Piplup, I guess we have to go back to Sandgem Town to give these to the professor. I'm sure he won't mind if we use them in the tall grass to get there, right?"

"Well how else are we supposed to defend ourselves against pokemon like those Starly?"

"Right, let's get going Maggie!" Trevor jumped ahead of me, while I took my sweet time admiring the road I was never allowed to go down as a kid.

"Man, I've only dreamed of going down here...!"

Out of almost nowhere, another Starly jumped at me from the grass.

"GAH!" I yelled and covered my face with my arms, forgetting that I had that Chimchar until he groaned at me.

"You really are a pathetic trainer aren't you...? I'll deal with this thing myself..."

The Starly flew off quickly after an attack, but I scowled at the Chimchar. "Hey, I'm not a trainer at all, so don't expect me to be an expert at this

kind of thing! I'm just returning you to Professor Rowan and going back to my somewhat normal life again!"

"Man, what a relief... For a second there I thought Rowan had me hooked with you for good."

"Okay, what's your deal? I'm forced to use you in a battle in order to defend myself from some crazy Starly, and you act like a total jerk to me for no reason!"

"You wanna know what my _deal_ is?! First off, I never even asked to be stuck as a stupid starting pokemon for beginner trainers. The one and only fear I had was getting stuck with a trainer like you who had no clue what they were doing! Thankfully I'll be back to the lab soon..."

"Yeah, then I won't have to deal with you any- AHH!" As I got close to Sandgem town, something hit me like a train, knocking me straight to the ground.

"Maggie! What took you so long?I've been waiting around here for like a million hours for you!And-and-"

Trevor kept babbling on, while I was still recovering from the shock and possible _concussion_ he gave me. I slowly stood up, trying to tune his talking out, but I stopped him mid-sentence anyway. "Alright well, I'm gonna go give this Chimchar back to the professor now. Then he'll finally be outta my hair...!"

"What did you say..?"

"Uh, nothing!" I said innocently.

As I walked in the lab, I saw the kid from the lake nervously standing near the professor. He stood back and watched as the professor walked up to me, nearly towering over me.

"So, you must be the girl who used my pokemon, eh...? Now, what did you say your name was?"

"The name's Margaret." I pointed to the kid in the back. "Who exactly is he?"

"Ah yes, that's Lucas, my... _assistant_. And I, of course, am Professor Rowan! But enough names, I would like to have my pokemon returned, please!"

I immediately sent out Chimchar and tossed his pokeball at the Professor. "Yep he's all yours now, safe and sound! Now I'll just be off to-"

"Hold on a second! Now that I look at him... Chimchar seems awfully attached to you. Margaret, perhaps you should keep him!"

"WHAT?!" Chimchar and I both yelled simultaneously.

"Woah woah woah, you can't just force me to go out on this journey!"

"Of course I can! You're still lucky I haven't called the cops on you for taking my Pokemon, you know! What you did was practically theft! But

since I'm so kind, I'll call it even if you raise Chimchar and do me a certain favor...!"

"What favor...?" I said, disgruntled.

"Well, as a professor, my job has always been to study every single pokemon in this region. But I'm too old for adventuring nowadays."

"Just tell me what you want me to do!"

"Hmph. Here, take this Pokedex, it will fill in information on every kind of pokemon you catch and evolve. I want you to complete it for me!"

All of a sudden, Lucas came out of his quiet corner and shoved me to the side.

"Hold on professor, I-I thought that was my job!"

"Oh yeah... Lucas, you're fired."

"Wait a sec, you don't have to fire him! If you think I'm actually gonna catch every single pokemon in the region, you-"

"Then it looks like someone is going to be in very big trouble for stealing my pokemon!"

As much as I didn't want to do this, it sounded better than being reported to the police. The one problem was Chimchar...

"Well... can I at least do it with another pokemon?"

"Why? It seems like you two get along perfectly!"

" _No we-"_

"Good! Oh! You're gonna need some Pokeballs to get you started, here! One last thing... Would you like to nickname Chimchar? He is your new partner after all!"

I groaned and picked up Chimchar, looking over him. He scowled at me.

"Put. Me. Down. NOW."

"Hmm... I think I'll name him _Flamebutt_!" I said with an evil grin.

"NO!" Flamebutt tried clawing at me, but I held him away.

"Ooh, Flamebutt sure is a feisty one..!"

"Do _not_ call me _Flamebutt_! My _name_ is _Cole_!"

"Eh... I still like Flamebutt, but I suppose Cole will work too. Now let's go."

I walked out, but Lucas stayed behind with Professor Rowan, on his knees.

"P-please let me stay Professor, I'll work harder I promise! Just let me stay I'm begging you! This job is all I have!"

"Oh, _you're_ still here... Lucas, just leave before I force you out."

Lucas got up, literally crying. He sulked as he walked out, then angrily leaped at me from behind once he got sight of me.

"HOLY SHIFTRY LUCAS WHAT ARE YOU-"

"You! Because of you, I just lost my dream job! That job was the best thing that ever happened to me and you- you RUNIED it!"

I struggled to get him off of me, and eventually I threw him to the side.

"Alright, listen. I never asked to do this! Do you really think I want to catch all the pokemon out there, let alone raise this little pain in my ass?!" I pointed down to Cole, then looked back up at Lucas and exhaled.

"Obviously there's a big problem for both of us... Maybe I can fix it."

Lucas crossed his arms. "How?"

"Okay, so, I don't wanna fill the Pokedex, and you want your precious job back, right? If you take care of the Pokedex and I show it to Rowan, I

could tell him that I won't give it up unless he hires you back."

"And what about the Chimchar? Raising him was part of the deal. I can fill the Dex, but I'm not great with pokemon..."

"Hm... I guess while you're busy I could take on the league with Flamebutt over here."

" _MY NAME IS COLE!_ And I am not, _N-O-T_ gonna be raised by the likes of _you_!"

I knelt down to Cole, glaring at him intensely. "I think you're forgetting who the one with the pokeball is...!"

I gave an evil smirk as I tossed his Pokeball up and down in my hand. I got back up and turned to Lucas.

"So, do we have a deal?" I said as I extended my hand.

"Deal."

Right then and there, I officially started a life changing journey, without even knowing.


	2. Chapter 2: New Friends and Old Ones

I watched the pokeball closely as it wriggled back and forth. Once it stopped, I threw my fists up in victory.

"YES! Guess who caught her first pokemon, Cole? Not so amateur now, am I?"

"Ah, big deal. Anyone can hurl one of those things at a pokemon. And just for the record, I can handle a journey just fine without a teammate. Besides, I thought you were only training me."

I crossed my arms. "I'm not that stupid, you know. If we're gonna be taking on the league, we'll need a team. So whether you like it or not, you'll be having some company along the trip."

"Alright, fine. What did you catch anyway?"

"Well, see for yourself!"

I grabbed the pokeball up from the ground and sent out the Shinx I caught. She looked at Cole and then up to me.

"So, you're my new trainer... Well, it's nice to meet you! I'm Andrea. You two got names?"

Just as I was about to talk, Cole spoke up loudly. "The name's Cole; Cole the Chimchar! Pleasure to meet ya!"

Before he got a chance to say anything else, I yelled out, "Hey, what happened to your pessimistic 'I-can-handle-a-journey-by-myself'

attitude?" I looked down at him with a smug face. He glared at me in return.

"And this one is our _wonderful_ trainer Margaret." He said in a sarcastic tone.

Andrea stood back, a bit awkwardly.

"You two sure get along great, don't ya...? Heh... Hey, do you mind if I hitch a ride on your head Margaret?"

"Nah, it's fine!"

I picked her up a little weirdly and placed her up top. We kept on walking through the route, with Cole alongside me. Another Shinx came out of the grass, and Cole of course, went after it.

"I got this-" He prepared to attack, but Andrea leapt off of my head, right onto the ground in front of Cole, and proceeded to attack the Shinx.

"I don't think so!"

"Nice, Andrea! . . .Oh right, uh, Tackle again!"

She rammed full-force into the Shinx, knocking it over on its side. It then timidly got to its feet and quickly fled. Cole stood to the side,frozen in place, and with his mouth gaping.

"You- how-? _Did a brand new member just outshine me?!_ "

Andrea smirked and walked over to Cole, filled with pride. "First new team member and I'm already stealing the starters spotlight...! I always knew I was strong, but this is better than I imagined!"

Cole furiously got up in her face. "NOW LISTEN HERE, IF YOU THINK-"

I quickly picked him up before he could do or say anything bad to Andrea. He struggled to break free, but I held him tight.

"Lemme go, now! _Put me down!"_

"No, you're acting so unreasonable! Just because a new member defeated a wild pokemon on her own doesn't make her any stronger than you! And it certainly doesn't mean you can go ballistic on her!"

"Honestly Cole, someone needs to control themselves," Andrea said with a smug face.

I glared down at her, "And as for you Andrea, there was no reason to rub that win in Cole's face. Either of you could have handled it fine! So stop getting angry over something stupid and leave each other alone!"

"Alright fine, I'm sorry, okay?" Cole still tried freeing himself from my grasp, "Now will you let me go?!"

I let him drop to the ground, watching closely to make sure he didn't start fighting with Andrea again.

As the two passed each other, she angrily mumbled, "Sorry Cole..."

Andrea climbed back onto my head for the rest of the trip through the route, despite the times I would send her out to battle, which I was admittedly still rusty at. Besides that everyone stayed eerily quiet while we walked. It was nice to have a break from them yelling and complaining, but I knew it was because they were still silently mad with each other. It wasn't long before we came upon Jubilife City, where I saw Lucas wandering around. I honestly wasn't in much of a mood to see him, so I avoided eye contact and tried staying out of his general view. But of course he spots me as I'm running to get behind a building.

"Oh hey Margaret! It's me Lucas!"

I tried to pretend I didn't see him, but of course he comes after me. I turned around and tried looking casual.

"Lucas...! Didn't uh... Didn't see ya there."

"Oh that's okay! How many more pokemon have you caught?"

I pointed up to Andrea. "Just this one. Her name's Andrea."

"Oh, you only have two...? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter, I'm the one filling the Pokedex, right? Anyway, have you checked out the trainer school nearby? It's a good place to review the basics of pokemon, like status problems and what each one does, typings, natures,-"

"Yeah, yeah, that's great. I already had my fun and passed Trainer's School. Well, sorta..- Look my point is, I'm not interested in going back there."

"Right, I shouldn't have bothered asking. I'm sure you already know everything you need to. I mean, you're such a good trainer already, I bet school was such a breeze for you!"

"Y-yeah... Well uh, I gotta get going, bye!"

I didn't even bother to wave before I ran off. Andrea looked down at me weird.

"What was that all about? You seemed really nervous when that kid brought up school. I mean... you did get through school didn't you?"

"O-of course! Just... don't worry about it okay?"

I sped up as I walked past the school, but in an instant I was on the floor, knocked over by none other than... "It's me, Trevor! Hi Maggie!"

"Trevor... Would you KINDLY GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!?"

He jumped up quick as a flash, still smiling. "Sorry! I guess I'm just glad to see you!"

"And why is that...?" I groaned, still on the ground rubbing my head.

"I have a special delivery for you from your mom! Ya see, I went back to Twinleaf to tell my mom that I was going on a pokemon journey, and then your mom found out! She told me to give you this package!"

Once I got up off the ground, I curiously opened the taped-up cardboard box. Inside was a town map, a few more Pokeballs, some sort of watch, and a scarf. At the bottom was a crumpled up note that read in capital red letters, " _THANKS FOR TELLING ME ABOUT A BIG, IMPORTANT JOURNEY YOU'RE GOING ON. MEANS A WHOLE LOT. BE SAFE OUT THERE, OKAY?! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH MAGGIE. -MOM."_

"Heh, mom's always been the worst at being mad. Even when she's furious at me she can't help but send me all this stuff...!"

"Yep! Well, if I'm gonna be the best trainer in the world, I'd better keep on training with Percy!" Trevor patted his Piplup on the head.

"Alright, see ya later then!"

"Byeeee!" He bolted off so quickly I couldn't even see which way he went.

"I've always wondered what's wrong with that kid..." I shrugged and looked around the city a bit, wondering which way to go.

I wasn't in any rush to get to the next gym, but I did want to get Cole's training over as soon as I could. I decided going the route to the West, which led to nothing but a small pier. I walked back to Jubilife and went north instead, which led to some grass. I figured I could catch a new pokemon, there, but instead I walked through a field of Bidoof, eventually to find a cave.

"Dumb Bidoof... Hopefully this leads to another town!"

"Hooray, a dark, damp, creepy cave to go through... How pleasant." Cole crossed his arms.

"No one ever said training would be pleasant."

"Yeah, no kidding... Let's just hope this is quick."

I stepped inside, and of course, a bunch of rocks were blocking the path.

"OH COME ON! ANOTHER STUPID DEAD END!? Arceus Christ, this is ridiculous...!"

"Hey! I heard that!" A Zubat came zooming near me. "I'll have you know this cave is my home, and I don't appreciate you- HEY!"

I threw a pokeball at her as she was nagging, successfully catching her.

"Gotchya!"

Cole looked up at me in shock, "So you refuse to catch a Bidoof, but you want a Zubat?!"

"Oh shush, is it so terrible I'm giving her a chance?"

"YES."

"Don't care! C'mon out Aline!"l

She came out of her Pokeball, hovering around my head. She seemed curious as she "looked" at me and the others.

"So lemme get this straight... You're a trainer... and you're actually gonna use me as an actual member of the team...?"

"Of course! Well, I'm gonna have to train you first to get caught up with everyone else, but yeah. Welcome aboard! I'm Margaret by the way, this is Cole, and that's Andrea."

"Well, it's nice to meet you guys. I'm still a bit ticked about you insulting my home, but I suppose I shouldn't get too upset with my new trainer."

"Well thanks! If only someone else thought the same way..." I mumbled and looked at Cole.

Aline spoke up, "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing...! Anyway, let's get outta here."

I exited from the cave and once again trekked through the Bidoof field. Getting back to Jublife, I thought for a moment.

"Let's see... The only direction I haven't gone yet is... East! That's gotta be the way to the next town. Maybe there'll be another pokemon beside Bidoof on the next route!"

Cautiously optimistic, I dove right into the route, when lo and behold, Trevor was there, still training. Strangely, he didn't tackle me once he got sight of me. Instead Trevor waved me over.

"Hi Maggie!"

"Hey Trevor! What's up?"

"Just training up my new teammate! C'mere little guy!" A small grey and black bird flew up to his shoulder. He looked at me curiously, without saying a word.

"He's a shy Starly I guess. Anyway, I wanna show you how strong I've gotten since we left Littleroot! Can we battle?"

"A battle? With you...? I-I'm not too sure..."

"Aw come on, pleeeease?" He begged with pleading eyes, "I really wanna show you what I've learned with my pokemon!"

"Alright, fine. But don't expect me to win or anything..."

"Alright! Steven, you're up first!" The Starly jumped off his shoulder and fluttered to the ground.

"Okay um... Aline! You need some training, try it out!" She flew down and confronted the Starly a bit hesitantly.

"Steven, Quick Attack!"

At a speed so fast I could hardly see it move, he collided with Aline, sending her backwards.

"Arceus that looks like it did like a lot of damage... Uh- Leech Life!"

Aline sunk her teeth into the Starly's wing, but I could tell it didn't take a lot of damage. I slapped myself in the head.

"Ahg, Flying types resist Bug...! Cole, get out here!"

"I thought you'd never ask...!"

Steven launched himself at high speed again and hit Cole, but he shoved him off and used Ember, nearly singeing the Starly's feathers. Steven prepared for another attack, but Cole used Ember again to finish him off. He looked down at the unconscious bird with pride. A worried Trevor got to his knees and returned Steven to his Pokeball.

"Rest up buddy, you were great...! Looks like I'm in a bit of trouble though... Time to bring out Percy!"

The tiny blue penguin emerged from his Pokeball, ready to fight. I knew this wasn't a fight for Cole, so I sent out Andrea instead. For some reason he started growling at her, so while it was busy I had Andrea tackle him. But for some reason it seemed a little less effective... Andrea attacked Percy again, and this time he fought back, using Pound. At this rate I was losing, and being out of Potions, I wasn't sure how to turn things around. I had never tried out using Leer before, but I didn't think staring down my opponent would help me win much...

"C'mon Maggie, let's keep this battle going!"

" _Andrea Leer!_ "

Oh god what did I just yell. . . I slapped myself in the forehead repeatedly, knowing this wouldn't end well... Andrea used Leer a few times while the Piplup still attacked, and by the looks of it one more hit would bring her down.

"C'mon Andrea, use Tackle now!" I impulsively shouted at her, and she obeyed, slamming Percy hard to the ground. He was down. I stared in shock, my mouth gaping. "I... did I win...?"

Trevor looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah...! Congrats, I'm impressed! I might have lost, but that was a fun battle Maggie! I'm gonna get going to train even harder now, bye!"He dashed off while I was still confused as all hell.

"Yeah... bye." I shook my head, "This doesn't make sense... Before you were hardly doing anything to hurt Percy, then out of nowhere you just KO him!"

Andrea rolled her eyes, "I used Leer, remember? Doing that will allow your opponent to take more damage from attacks."

"R-right, I knew that... Let's keep moving." I didn't walk for long before I heard a voice coming from the grass.

"Hey miss, wait up!"

I stopped and knelt down, finding a Starly calling for me. "Oh, hi there...! Was it me you wanted?"

"Yes indeed! Ya see, I saw you and your little team there battling that kid, and I've got to say you were pretty good out there! Would you mind if I joined you?"

"Uh, sure! The more the merrier I suppose...!" I looked through my bag for a Pokeball, "By the way, do you have a name?"

"No, most of us wild Pokemon don't have names actually."

I found the Pokeball, tossed it at the Starly, and he willingly let himself be captured. I picked it up, sending him out. "Well then welcome to the team Zach!"


	3. Chapter 3: Caves, Caves, and More Caves

"Oh come on, we have to go through _another_ cave?! I was hardly in the last one for two minutes and I couldn't stand it in there!"

Cole groaned and crossed his arms, a sour look on his face. I wasn't too enthusiastic to go back into a cave either, but I figured this one would be a short enough walk that even a stubborn Pokemon like Cole could bear through it. But since when have I been right with my predictions on this journey so far...? Oh right, NEVER.

"Well, _I_ happen to like caves," Aline said. "Besides, we gotta get through here to go to the next town, right Margaret?"

"Unfortunately, yes. And since Cole refuses to go in there, he can stay in his pokeball while we walk through."

"Fine by me!" Cole immediately returned to his Pokeball as I walked into the cave with everyone else. Zach flew close to me.

"Yeesh, this place really gives me the creeps...!"

Aline groaned in a bit of disgust ."I'm really getting tired of everyone insulting places like this, which just so happens to be my and plenty of other Zubats' homes! Can't any of you just-"

 _ **"BOO!"**_

Aline let out a shriek and fell to the floor, startled by the Geodude that seemed to come out of nowhere. Even I was a bit scared.

"Oh jeez, I'm real sorry...! Didn't mean to scare you that badly, just meant it to be a small prank. You can imagine how fun being stuck in a cave is..."

The Geodude crossed his arms as Aline hung her head in defeat.

"I give up...!"

I chuckled and knelt down to the Geodude. "Hey, if you get so bored in here, why don't you come join our team?"

"Really? Yeah, it sounds great!"

I nodded and threw a pokeball at him, effortlessly adding another team member. Not even on my first gym badge and I already have a team of five...! This was seemingly pretty easy so far! I smiled as the Geodude started walking alongside me on the way out of the cave.

"So... How does this whole trainer thing work anyway...? Do you... name me? Or do I name myself...?"

"Oh, right! Sorry, I'm a bit new at this too, but yeah, I'm nicknaming you. Hm... How does Tyler sound?"

"Not bad! It's got a nice ring to it...! Tyler the Geodude!"

I laughed a bit and kept going, passing by and battling a few trainers before we were out. I squinted as the bright sunlight nearly blinded me, making me unable to read the sign to my left. I blinked a few times before it became clear. It read, _"This way to Oreburgh City,"_ with a black arrow pointing forward. "Aha! We're almost there!"

I excitedly ran towards the city, a rush of adrenaline going through me. It seemed so long since I felt like that, and the weird part was that it was just because I arrived somewhere new. Usually getting excited over something so petty would be Trevor's job...! But I decided not to dwell on it so much and look for the gym. It wasn't too hard to spot out of all of the smaller rustic buildings around though. As I approached the large building, who else but Trevor came zooming in, stopping at less than an inch front of my face.

 _"WELL HI...!"_ I said startled, backing away.

Trevor wore a smile even bigger than usual, holding his hands behind his back joyfully.

"Hi Maggie! Guess what just happened? ...Go on, guess!" Trevor seemed jumpy as he waited for a response from me.

I looked up, thinking for a quick second before I answered. "Uhh... Did you-"

"Look at this, I got my very first Gym badge! Isn't it awesome?" He pulled his hands out in front of him, holding a small, shiny badge. I leaned in to look at it, pretty impressed.

"Wow Trevor...! You sure are getting things done quickly! I have a lots of catching up to do compared to you. Which means I had better go get my badge soon!"

I approached the gym, but Trevor held onto my shoulder, turning me back around.

"Hold on a sec...! After I beat the gym leader he left for something he said was important. I don't think he's back yet, but I'm pretty sure left for the mines down that way!" Trevor pointed down to the more southern part of the city, and I nodded in reply.

"Oh, okay. Thanks for telling me Trev! I'll go get him for a battle, so I guess I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, and maybe we could battle too!"

"Alright, sounds good. See ya!"

"Byeeee! Oh, and just so you know, the gym leader here really like Rock types. Good luck!"

I waved back at him as he ran off, quick as a flash. I chuckled, heading down to the mines. "Man, this whole journey thing is easier than I thought! We're gonna get that badge in no time!"

Zach, who was perched on my shoulder, shifted a bit uncomfortably."I wouldn't get my hopes up... I mean, not a lot of us have moves that work well against Rock, not to mention we don't have all that much training..."

"Pft, don't sweat it. If Trevor can beat him, we'll be fine! Besides, we have power in numbers too!"

"I'm just saying you should be careful. Diving into some something like this so recklessly could end up in someone getting badly hurt...!"

"Zach, I told you we'll be alright, we just gotta put in a good team effort! Which reminds me..."

I reached for my Pokeball belt, sending out Cole. He stretched his arms, looking at me and all around. "Oh hey, we're here...! Hopefully we won't be seeing another cave for awhile..."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that!"

Cole looked up at the entrance of the mine as we got closer to it, slumping his shoulders. "Oh come on...! Why do we have to go in THIS one?!"

"The gym leader's in there, running an errand or something... Even though it's his job to be at the actual Gym, I suppose it would be easier if we came to him for the battle."

"BATTLE?! You're getting into a gym battle already?"

"Quiet down, it might as well happen now than wait later."

"B-but...!" He didn't have time to respond before a nearby trainer decided to battle me.

He confidently sent out a Machop, and it looked like it meant business. I decided to send Aline out. Even with her weaker attacks, I figured I could slowly break down the Machops strength until it was down. Unfortunately it didn't work out so well, since the Machop was still dealing more damage, even with the bit of healing from using Leech Life. After throwing constant attacks of either Karate Chop or Low Kick, it used Focus Energy for a change. Once it was busy, I sent Zach out, remembering that he had a resistance to Machop's attacks. Zach charged at it full speed, nearly knocking it off its feet. In an instant, Machop fought back, landing a powerful Karate Chop. With one hit, Zach was sent flying backwards, first hitting a nearby rock before falling to the ground.

" _Zach!_ Alright, that is IT! Cole, take care of the Machop!"

He nodded, rushing forward to hit it with Ember. As I watched, I grabbed Zachs pokeball to return him.

"Alright, c'mon back, you gotta rest up..."

He remained on the floor, motionless. Suddenly worried, I took my focus away from the battle, rushing over to Zach.

"Z-Zach?!"

I found him a mess of feathers and blood, still unresponsive. My hand shook as I brought it to touch his chest, feeling no pulse.

"No... He can't be...!"

Tears swelled in my eyes as I stared at his lifeless body, which was now half-stained crimson. The red substance got onto my own hands, and for a moment as I looked at them, I was someplace different... Someplace terrible. Just a flash went through my mind before Cole came back to me, snapping me out of it.

"Hey, I finished off that Machop for ya! ...Huh? You okay?"

He got closer and stopped dead in his tracks once he got sight of Zach. Cole gasped and went wide-eyed, speechless. Andrea came out with a worried look on her face.

"Guys...? What's-" She gasped as well, looking up at me. "Margaret...? Why isn't Zach getting up? Is... is he...?"

Hesitating for a moment, I nodded, holding her close and finding myself nearly sobbing.

 **R.I.P Zach**

 **Level 4-6**

 _You tried to warn me about dangers like these... I'm sorry I was too stubborn to listen. It wasn't worth losing you._


	4. Chapter 4: Sorrow and Success

I stared up at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. It wasn't that sleeping in the pokemon center was uncomfortable, I just couldn't stop thinking about the incident with Zach. I didn't even know Pokemon could die so easily, let alone die at all. Does this mean that the entire team is constantly at a risk of death just by journeying with me? If that's the case, why would they come in the first place? Do they even know? Although a million unanswered questions raced through my mind all at once, there was one thing that I knew for sure.

This was all my fault.

I woke up the next morning, surprised I was able to fall asleep last night, and was still left with the same questions lingering in my head.

"Hey Margaret! You feeling better...?" Andrea asked with a caring smile.

"Oh, morning..." I didn't pay attention to what she said, my mind was too fixated on answering those stupid questions. So I figured the best way to do that was to ask.

"Guys... Can I uh... ask you some questions?"

"Whatever... Just make it quick, I'm tired," Cole said, outstretching his arms.

"Alright..." I hesitated for a moment, but took a breath in. " So, did you... already know that Pokémon could die in battle...?" I asked, my voice a bit shaky.

Aline turned towards me, "Yeah, of course! Unless we're kept as pets, the risk of death is always known to us, even when we're wild. Most Pokémon battle trainers in hopes of being captured, trained, and surviving long enough to get into the Hall of Fame, proving their strength. But most are lucky just to be caught... Not too many pokemon make it in the wild."

"Really? I... I never knew that."

"Hey, don't feel too bad about it... that's just the way things are for Pokemon. Can't really change it, y'know? Pokemon are more likely to survive with a trainer anyway, so don't worry about us!"

"Yeah... Besides, we know we're in great hands with you as our trainer Margaret!" Andrea tried reassuring me as she climbed onto my lap.

I wasn't convinced though. A good trainer is someone who wouldn't let their pokemon die and doesn't recklessly head straight into battle, someone who is responsible and knows what they were doing. I knew for a fact that wasn't me. But if what Aline said was actually true, then I couldn't just leave them out in the wild to die... I shook my head a bit, knowing that there was no turning back now.

 _Arceus, what did I get myself into...?_

"Guys..." I paused and sighed. "I'm... I'm sorry."

"What for?" Tyler said, looking confused. "Zach's death was an accident, we all know it. There's no need to-"

"That's not what I meant!" I talked sternly, staring at the floor. "I never wanted to be a pokemon trainer, even before I knew I would be putting lives at risk! I never even passed Trainers School, I technically shouldn't even be _allowed_ to own a pokemon for battle! But then because of _my_ stupid decision, I got myself into trouble and was forced to travel with and raise a team!" I took a deep breath in, holding back tears.

"I don't know why you would think you're in good hands with me..." I glanced at Andrea, shaking my head. "I'm not a good trainer, I'm just a danger to all of you..."

Andrea looked straight at me, with defiance burning in her eyes."Hey, I'm not gonna stand around and let you say that about yourself. Margaret, basically all trainers are a danger to their pokemon. Yet it's their one and only dream to be captured! Because even if they do die, they die fighting for the trainer that they love, for the person that gave their life a story. Even if that story was short-lived... And even if you're not the best trainer yet, you're doing great for someone with so little experience. But if you still don't think you want to do this, we completely understand."

Everyone agreed with Andrea besides Cole, who stared at a corner, not saying or doing anything. I looked over all of them for a moment.

"I can't just stop... not now. I couldn't live with myself if I left you guys in the wild! Who knows if any of you would survive out there... And Zach... he would have died for nothing!"

"So what are you gonna do now?" Aline asked, perking her ears.

I stood up confidently, "I'm gonna try harder and keep on going for you guys! We're gonna do lots of training this time so we can beat Roark!"

"Alright, that's the spirit!" Tyler jumped up excitedly. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get training!"

He started running to the door, but I promptly picked him up to stop him."Hold it! Remember, with this Gym Leader guy specializing in Rock types, the odds are still against us. If we want any chance to beat this guy, we're gonna need to upgrade your moves...!"

 _ **BAM!**_ Another Geodude was defeated by Tyler and collapsed in exhaustion. The swarms of them in the mine were perfect for training him, and the grass on the route/dead end just outside Oreburgh was where I trained the others.

I picked up Tyler gleefully. "Alright, that was awesome! I'd say we're almost ready to challenge Roark!"

"Yeah, this Rock Smash move works like a charm! I bet those Rock pokemon of his will be down and out before they know it!"

"Okay, okay, don't get too ahead of yourself. Let's just be careful during the battle, alright?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine! I'm a rock type too, so I'll resist their attacks anyway! Now c'mon, let's go!"

We made our way out of the mine and took one last stop to the pokemon center to heal up before the battle. Tyler and the rest of the team was by my side as I walked to the gym, my legs feeling like they were about to give out, yet at the same time refusing to do so.

Tyler looked up at me. "What's with the sluggishness Margaret? I thought you were all excited for this."

"I was but... now I'm just nervous... What if something goes wrong? What if I can't beat him..?"

Tyler stopped dead in his tracks and faced me, looking me dead in the eyes. "Hey. No more of these "what-if's". I don't wanna hear 'em, and you don't need to be thinkin' about 'em. If you wanna win this, you can't have a losing attitude. Now let's get in there and show Roark what we got!"

He suddenly started running off to the gym with everyone else following. I tried to chase after them, but they didn't stop till we got there. By the time I was at the door I was already out of breath.

"Guys... Don't just run off like that..!"

"Well I knew it was the only way you were gonna pick up your feet, Slowpoke!"

Tyler started to approach Roark, and as much as I wanted to, there was really no stopping him at this point. I sighed, but even I knew this battle was coming up sooner or later. No point in trying to avoid it. Although the butterflies in my stomach felt like they were all on steroids, I gathered up my confidence as I came face-to-face with the dark red-haired gym leader. He smirked as I looked straight at his eyes, which were just as red as his hair.

"So, you're the one I met in the mines... To be honest, I thought I would see you here earlier than this. Feels like its been almost _months_...!"

"Yeah, well... Stuff happened." I looked to the side, scratching the back of my head for a moment before turning my head back towards him.

"Well, since you're here for a battle, I suppose this isn't a time for small talk." Roark looked over my team and chuckled, sending out his first pokemon. "Alright Geodude, show them what you got! This should be a quick-" He was cut off by Geodude being flung backwards into the wall behind him. "B-battle?!"

Tyler stood confidently in front of me and turned his head back. "Told you this would be easy!"

I smirked. "Nice job, but I don't think that's all he has in store..."Roark looked back at us, his face turned serious. "Alright, if you want a real battle, try Cranidos on for size!"

The pokemon came out, intensely glaring at Tyler. I ordered him to use Rock Smash again, and although it seemed to take some good damage, the Cranidos just kept looking angrily at him. I was a bit confused at first; why was it just letting Tyler attack it? All of a sudden it hit me, Leer. I had Andrea use the same thing on Trevor's Piplup... Which meant Tyler would take more damage from Cranidos' attacks. took a moment to think... "Andrea, c'mere. I need you to..." I whispered to her so Roark couldn't hear my plan.

"Cranidos, Headbutt that Geodude!"

"NOW!" I yelled, a bit startled. Andrea quickly ran in front of the Cranidos, taking the hit for Tyler. She was knocked backwards, but in the meanwhile Tyler used Rock Polish, now making him faster. The Cranidos, realizing he was tricked, glared at Tyler again. Tyler quickly ran up to him, hitting hard with Rock Smash, but only to be counter-attacked with a Headbutt from Cranidos. Then the second he got the chance, Tyler forcefully punched him back, leaving it too tired and weak to go on. Roark, who looked a bit frustrated, sent him safely back to his pokeball. I turned my head for a second to check in on Andrea.

"Hey, you doing alright back there?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine! Now get your head back in the game, we're almost finished here!"

I smiled confidently and nodded, looking back to Roark, who was holding his last pokeball.

"Hmph... Nice trick you pulled back there. But let's see how well you do against Onix!"

The giant stone serpent emerged from the pokeball, towering over everyone. He was intimidating to say the least, but I didn't let that stop me. Tyler charged at it, hammering both his fists into Onix's side. The Onix let out a high-pitched and loud Screech, causing Tyler, and everyone else for that matter, to cringe and try blocking out the noise. While Tyler wasn't moving, the Onix threw many small-sized rocks from the end of its tail at him. It didn't do much, but he was getting weaker. I needed a chance to heal him, but no one else on the team would be able to take a hit without the risk of dying! I had to think fast, but I couldn't decide who should go out... I can't just send one of them out knowing that-

"Now Onix, Rock Throw again!"

I watched in shock as Onix prepared to attack again, and the only thing I could do was hope that Tyler could survive in the few seconds the stones came flying towards him. It shocked me even more as a small blue figure came rushing forward in front of him, taking the hit instead.

" _A-ALINE!_ " I ran to her side once the rocks sent her flying backwards, "Why did you...?!"

"Heal Tyler... hurry. . ." She spoke to me weakly as I held her in my arms. I didn't let her go as I dug through my bag for a potion. I quickly used it on Tyler and immediately got him back into action.

"Ty, I need you to finish this ASAP. Aline, you just hang in there..."

"You got it!" Tyler nodded, turning to Onix. "Let's finally wrap this fight up...!"

He jumped up and quickly landed a few powerful punches up Onix's jaw, sending him stumbling backwards a little. He faced Tyler again and let out another powerful cry. As he prepared for another attack, Tyler used Rock Smash one last time, taking him down at last. Roark stood there for a moment over his tired Onix, a bit shocked. Then he just smirked. "Wow, not bad! With a team like yours, you were-"

"Can I please just get my badge already?!"

Roark looked at me funny as I tapped my foot rapidly and impatiently. He got one of the badges out and held it in his hand.

"Yeah, but-"

"Awesome, bye!"

I snatched the badge up as quick as I could and bolted out the door, still holding Aline. I didn't stop or even think about it as I rushed her to the Pokemon Center. She shifted around slightly.

"Margaret...? I... I don't think-"

"Shh.. It's okay, everything is gonna be fine... Cmon, we're almost there Aline... You can't give up yet...!"

I petted her head gently, my eyes fixated on the Pokemon Center getting closer and closer. I wasn't going to let her die too... By the time I got past the sliding doors, I was still running to get to the counter, where I gently put down Aline and sternly asked to get her help. The nurse looked startled for a moment but took Aline into another section of the building used to care for more serious injuries. I tried following after her, but as some of the other doctors took Aline, the nurse pushed me back.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to wait until the doctors are done with her. For now you can stay in here. Please, relax and take a seat, miss."

The last thing I was gonna do was relax as Aline was in there, but I did need to catch my breath.

"Fine but... can you heal the rest of my team too?"

"Of course."

I handed the nurse their pokeballs, and in almost no time they were good as new. I sent them out as I sat down, worried.


	5. Chapter 5: Back on Track

It seemed too soon before they called my name. I dragged myself up and clenched the edge of the counter. They couldn't have fixed her that soon... which meant. . .

"Aline is going to be just fine!"

"W-what?! Really?" I let out a sigh of relief and smiled as the nurse nodded, handing her pokeball back.

"Her wings took most of the damage, so she won't be able to fly for awhile. Other than that Aline is still fine to fight!"

"I'm just glad she's okay...!"

I sent Aline out of her Pokeball, making sure she was put on top of my shoulder.

"You feeling better? You really had me worried there!"

"Heh, I know, sorry. To be honest I didn't think I was gonna make it... But I knew it was the only way I could buy some time for Tyler so he could finish off that Onix."

"You really think giving up your life would've been worth me getting the badge?"

"Not just that, the others might've gotten hurt or worse trying to stall for Tyler. Andrea was already hurt, and Cole wouldn't have lasted very long either... I guess I just took a leap of faith."

"Well, I owe you our win because of that. What you did was really brave and selfless Aline! I'm proud of ya. But no more of these nearly life-ending sacrifices, alright? At least not until you can fly."

"Alright, alright, I got it." Aline chuckled. "I'll try my best."

I smiled and turned around to face the rest of the team. "Alright guys, with all the time we spent training, Trevor's probably gotten way ahead of us. We don't want to fall behind too much, so let's get headed to the next town!"

"Now...?" Cole whined.

"Yes, _now_." I replied sternly, walking out of the Pokemon center. "Since Tyler has Rock Smash, he can clear off the rocks that used to block up the cave we found Aline in. To-"

"We have to go through ANOTHER caaaave?"

"Ignoring!" I said in a sing-songy tone. "Anyway, to get there we gotta pass through Jubilife again, so let's keep going."

We continued on our way to the city, with Cole literally dragging his feet as he followed behind us. All of a sudden I heard a high-pitched scream from an alleyway near us, so I ran over to check it out.

"What was that?!" Andrea asked, running alongside me.

"Sounded like a girl is in trouble... Let's be careful though, we don't know who we're dealing with."

I slowed down as I rounded the corner and crept through the darkening shadows of the alley. I followed the voices I heard to find two people, both with matching black and white suits and blue hair, cornering their victim. I got a little closer to get a better look at her, but then heard a familiar voice...

"M-Margaret! Thank goodness you're here!"

The two in the matching suits turned around to look at me, revealing Lucas against the wall.

I hung my head and muttered under my breath,"Oh man... You can't be serious."

The two thugs looked angrily at eachother."Great, now we have _two_ brats to deal with..." the male glared at the other.

"Well it's not _my_ fault! Besides, we've taken care of amateur trainers like this before."

The male sighed and turned back to us."Look you two, if you just peacefully hand over that Pokedex of his, we'll leave without a problem!"

"What? Why do you even need Lucas' Dex?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell a nosy little brat like you that information. But trust me when I tell you it's all going to a good cause! Now just-"

"And why should I trust you? What good could come out of you just stealing something someone worked hard on?"

He sneered as he looked down at me. "Let's just say that we are doing certain... "studies" that will better the future of both pokemon and humans. Now quit asking so many questions little girl, or there _will_ be consequences."

I gave a cocky smile as I sneered straight back at him, our faces practically inches apart. "Who's "we"? What _consequences_? Or are you just trying to scare me with an empty threat?"

He backed away from my face, standing tall and looking angrily at me.

"Alright, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get! We'll show you the power of _Team Galactic!"_ He turned toward the female, "C'mon, let's teach this brat a good lesson!"

"Woah woah wait a second, you guys are double-teaming me! Isn't that like, illegal or something?!"

"Does it look like there's anyone around to stop us?"

I groaned, turning back to Lucas and asking,"You don't have any good pokemon with you, do you...?"

He nervously shook his head. "T-They already took out Turtwig..."

"Uhg, _fine_. I'll do this myself. Cole, Andrea, show 'em what you got!"

I sent them out of their pokeballs, waiting for what these Team Galactic goons had to oppose me. Expecting a tough fight, I stared at disbelief at the Wurmple and scrawny Zubat that came out.

I laughed at them, " _These_ are your Pokemon?! Ooh, I must be in for one tough lesson! Did you need Lucas' Dex to find out where to get better teammates?"

I kept on teasing them as I called back Andrea, sending out Aline instead.

"C'mon Aline, you could use a little training. I don't think this should be a problem for you and Cole."

"Hey, we could easily destroy your wimpy Pokemon! Wurmple, Tackle!"

The tiny red caterpillar slowly tried attacking, but Cole easily took it out with Ember, leaving it charred grey. Meanwhile, Aline fought with the other Zubat. Despite it having the advantage of flight, Aline was much faster and could easily dodge a few incoming attacks. Before long, both the Zubat and Wurmple were down. The male goon's face was beet-red with fury now, but the other just hung her head in defeat.

"The boss has really gotta get us better pokemon..."

"I know, I know...! He won't be happy that we failed such an easy mission either." The male turned to us, still angry. "This isn't the last you'll see of Team Galactic!"

They both fled quickly, and since chasing them was pointless I turned back to Lucas.

"Is your Pokedex alright?"

"Y-yeah, everything's here, nothing got taken or erased... I'm glad you were around to save me though!"

"Yeah I know... If anything happened to that Dex I would have to wait even longer for you to finish! But I'm not gonna be around you all the time, nor do I want to. I know you said you weren't good with Pokemon, but you've gotta catch some stronger ones to defend the Dex!"

"You're right... Turtwig is gonna need some help in case we see those creepy guys again! I guess I gotta start training some of the pokemon I caught for the Dex. Maybe I could even earn a few badges...!"

"Whatever, just don't forget your real goal; finishing that Dex!"

"Yeah, then I can get my job back!"

"Sure sure, that too... Well I've wasted a good amount of time here, I'm gonna get going."

"W-wait!"

 _"WHAAAAAT?"_

"What if they send more of those Galactic guys after me? I'm gonna need someone to protect me while I'm training my pokemon!"

"Oh for the love of..." My frustrated face suddenly turned to a smile as I had an idea. "Y'know what, I'd love to! In fact, I'm gonna go look around Jubilife for any more of those scary guys just to be safe! But you gotta stay here so they don't find you till I'm done, okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!"

"I know, I'm so smart aren't I? Now remember, whatever you do, _stay here."_

"You got it!"

I held the forced smile onto my face until I was out of sight. Then I just ran. Ran until I finally got to the entrance of the cave, out of breath.

"There... That should keep Lucas away for awhile..."

Cole snickered, "I can't believe the idiot actually fell for that!"

"Yeah I know... But Lucas is pretty gullible and naïve. I've known him for less than a week now and he seems to completely trust me. It's pretty damn annoying, but at least I can use that to my advantage..." I smirked as I walked into the tunnel, damp and dark like I remembered.

Aline smiled as she was perched on my shoulder. "Ahh... Home sweet home!"

Cole stuck his tongue out. "Not very sweet to me... Margaret, don't get into any battles you'll need me for, alright?"

"I'll do my best..." I answered sarcastically as he went back into his pokeball.

The wild pokemon were basically nothing to us after training for Roark, and because we could finally clear away the rocks blocking the path through, the trip went easily and smoothly. I outstretched my arms to the warm sunshine that greeted me outside.

"That didn't take very long, now did it? We'll be in the next town in no time! I wonder if there are any new pokemon out here on the other side of the cave?"

As if on que, a Budew carefully made it's way out of the grass. I had already seen a handful of those before, so I figured it would be good for a little training. I let Cole out again, who seemed irritated like always as he rubbed his eyes.

"Hey... I thought I told you I didn't want to come out...!"

"But we're out of the cave n-"

 _"Don't care."_ Cole walked out of the battle and back into his pokeball. I stood there for a moment, a blank expression on my face.

"Aaaalright then... Aline, you could use some training. You can handle that without flying, right?"

"That thing? No problem!"

She hopped off my shoulder, momentarily spreading her wings to break her fall. She winced for a second before closing in for an attack.

"Just keep using Leech Life and you should be fine!"

Aline nodded and speedily sunk her fangs into the Budew, draining its energy bit by bit. The small grass type didn't do well trying to hurt Aline, in fact it seemed to resist attacking. But after a few attacks, it fell to the ground, breathless and weak, looking up at me with pleading eyes.

 _"S-stop!_ Please... don't hurt me...!"

I sighed; I've seen that act countless times while training for Roark. Just when they're about to lose, they give me puppy-dog eyes and ask me to spare them. It was hard to do it the first few times, especially for the ones who were killed, but soon I got used to it. If they didn't make it, I would always make sure they weren't suffering, and that they went down peacefully. It was the least I could do for them... and now this Budew. I knelt down near it, a caring smile on my face as I gently held one of it's leaves. It just kept staring at me, forcing out words.

"I-I never wanted to hurt your Pokemon..."

I wanted to say something to her, but nothing would come out as my smile faded. It never even meant any harm and now I was just going to leave it to die... But by now it was too far from the pokemon center. I dug through my bag, but even potions didn't do anything for it. I still held onto it, forcing a smile back on my face.

"Hey... Everything's gonna be okay. Soon you won't hurt anymore... Just... close your-"

I felt something rub against my leg, and when I looked behind me I saw Andrea holding a pink and yellow colored pokeball in her mouth. I snatched it from her and used it on the Budew.

"A heal ball... This had better work."

Once it was successfully captured, I immediately sent it out, cautiously hopeful. I smiled big as I saw it good as new, although it looked back at me, confused.

"You... You saved me...?" It asked in a timid voice.

"Of course I did! I wasn't about to willingly let an innocent life end."

"Well, thank you for that... I suppose now I'm going to be sent off to the PC?"

"What? Why would I do that when there's still room on the team?"

"You mean... You saved my life and you're going to train me?! But don't you think I'm too weak?"

"Maybe you look weak, but that's why I'm training you! Even if you aren't the greatest fighter right now, who says you won't be once you evolve? Besides, helping to make you stronger is the least I could do after nearly killing you. But if you think you can't handle it, you don't have to train with us if you don't want to."

"No no, I'd love to stay! You're just a bit... different than most trainers I've seen. Hardly anyone comes along this way so they can get a Budew. Thank you."

I nodded, "...Welcome to the team,... Gloria."


	6. Chapter 6: Accidents

...I was smothered in endless darkness as I kept running further and further, trying to get away. No matter how fast I was, it was faster. I looked behind me, but the blood red silhouette still crept closer; its twisted black smile growing bigger each second.

A whisper came from behind me, "Your fault..."

I shut my eyes tight and kept on running. The voice came back again, taunting me, "Your fault... Your fault...!"

More and more hushed tones joined in, surrounding me as they repeated those words over and over, each time getting gradually louder. Soon my head felt like it was about to split open from the sound of thousands of voices screaming at me. I collapsed to my knees, sobbing and clenching my head in between my legs.

"Please s-stop... **_STOP IT!"_**

And just like that, there was silence. Instead of darkness, everything around me was now white. For just a moment I was relieved...

I felt something on my hands and looked down.

Blood.

 _ **"YOUR FAULT!"**_

I shot up out of bed, breathing heavily as sweat dripped down my face. I slowly and fearfully looked down at my shaking hands. A breath of relief escaped me after seeing nothing on them. Looking around at the Pokemon Center walls and the team below me, all sleeping soundly, I remembered last night when we arrived at Floaroma town. As I swept the messy hair out of my face, I sighed and flopped back down on the bed.

"Crazy dream..." I told myself as I shut my eyes and drifted back to sleep.

" _Margaret... Margaret...!_ . . .Hey, wake up already!"

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes to find Andrea just inches away from my face. I stared at her for a moment before I turned to lie on my other side.

She growled at me, "I said, wake... _up!"_

I suddenly felt cold as Andrea yanked the covers away. I sat up in bed, glaring down at her.

"Hey! Give it back!"

"Oh, come on...!" She whined, spitting the blanket out of her mouth. "Didn't you say yourself we needed to catch up with Trevor? How are we gonna do that if you're wasting time sleeping in? Not to mention Gloria still needs training, and-"

"Alright, alright, I'll get ready, okay? Jeez, you sound like my mom..."

Andrea sighed as I stretched my arms and sat on the edge of the bed.

"So you finally got the Snorlax out of bed, huh?" Tyler said to Andrea with a smirk on his face. As he looked up at me, his smug expression vanished, "Yeesh, for all that extra sleep you got, you look terrible."

I shot him a glare. "Gee, thanks."

Andrea looked up at me as well, looking a bit concerned. "Seriously though, did you sleep okay last night?"

I opened my mouth hesitantly, remembering the nightmare, but then shut it and stayed silent for just a second. I wouldn't want anyone to worry about me... It was just a dream anyway.

"..Yeah, I slept fine! Maybe I'm just a little tired from the past few days... Training you guys that much for Roark wasn't just a walk in the park!" I replied with a forced smile.

"Well, you'd better get used to it," Andrea smirked, "Because we still have seven more gym leaders to go!"

I nodded. "Right, right...! Well, gimme a few minutes to get ready guys, and then we'll get the day started!"

I quickly got changed out of my pajamas and packed up my bag before I left the Pokemon center, ready to move forward. As the rest of the team came out behind me, Gloria pushed in front of everyone and beamed at the sight of Floaroma town.

"Wow...!" She gasped in awe, "It's even prettier here during the day!"

"I don't see what's so special about it... I mean, it's just a bunch of flowers, right?" Aline said, her head tilted down to Gloria.

"Just a bunch of flowers?! Do you not see all the different kinds of blooms in these beautiful colors?"

"...No, I don't. I'm a _Zubat_ , colors mean nothing to me. Blind, remember?"

"O-oh... Right. Well, what about everyone else?"

Andrea shrugged, "It's alright I guess..."

Tyler looked all around him, "I can hardly walk without accidentally crushing something!"

Cole plucked a small flower out of the ground, staring at it before he made it burst into flames. "...Meh."

Gloria dropped her head. "Uhg... whatever." She looked up at me, "So, training starts today?"

"Yep!" I replied as I started walking. "Since Floaroma doesn't have a gym, we're gonna have to go to the next town over. There's another route on the way, I figured we could get some training there. I'm just hoping we don't run into any more trouble again."

"Who would even cause trouble in this middle-of-nowhere, prissy town anyway?" Cole questioned rhetorically.

"Team Galactic apparently..." Andrea pointed to two grunts, blocking off the bridge to the nearest route.

"Galactic?! Where?" As soon as I got sight of them I panicked and hid behind a bush, pulling everyone else with me. "Alright, I don't think they noticed me... Now let's go find another way outta here."

"Wait... I thought those guys were wimps. Why are you so scared of them now?" Tyler asked as we snuck back to Floaroma.

"I'm not scared of them, Ty. The only reason I fought with them back at Jubilife was because they were threatening to take Lucas' Dex. If they see me now, they'll probably want revenge or something, and I don't want a bunch of battles to delay me from getting to the next town."

"Well, waiting around and hiding from them is gonna delay us from getting further too ya know... And they might not be doing anything bad right now anyway!"

"Whatever, I still don't trust those dorks... And I don't want Gloria's training to be battling these guys."

"We have to get past them one way or another! What if they stick around and keep blocking the next route for _days?!"_

I sighed, "...Fine, I guess the only way to-"

 _"MAGGIE!"_

As if on cue, Trevor came sprinting up to me, lifting me up as he trapped me in his tightly-gripped hug.

 _"Trevor!"_ I yelled angrily, "Put me down! ...Wait, what are you doing here?"

Trevor giggled a bit as my feet returned to the ground. "Well ya see... I got here just a few days ago actually, but these weird uniformed people have been blocking the way out since then. Apparently they're 'conducting research' there or something... It's super dumb."

"Oh great, sounds like they really are gonna stay awhile... Why didn't you try battling to get past them?"

"Because they might be way stronger than me! I don't wanna put my team in any danger!"

I chuckled, "Hey, I've dealt with these guys before, they're nothing to be afraid of! The only reason I haven't beaten them by now is because I already got into trouble with them once, and I don't really want to do it again... But I bet you could handle it!"

"You really think so...? I mean, last time we battled you beat me... I bet you're still stronger, to be honest."

"Even if I am, trust me when I say that these guys are weaker than both of us. I'm sure you could easily wipe the floor with them!"

"Really? Then it's time to go show those guys who's boss! I'll see ya later Maggie, okay?"

"Alright, see ya!"

Trevor waved as he ran off, energetic as always. It didn't take long for him to create a distraction, so I snuck past the Galactic members with ease! I looked behind me to make sure I wasn't being followed, then sighed in relief.

"Good, it worked...! Now, it's finally time for some training, Gloria!"

She nodded, "I'll do my best!"

We fought our way through wild pokemon as we progressed through Route 205, and before long I saw another trainer there. Just like normal, we battled once we both got sight of each other, but what I wasn't expecting was a tough-looking Ponyta to be sent out.

"Oh jeez... Gloria, come back! Andrea, you can handle this."

She nodded, blocking Gloria from the incoming Ember. She fell back before running forward and biting Ponyta. It threw Andrea off of it and sent flames toward her again, but after taking the hit she slammed into it. One more tackle would be able to take it down, and Andrea could easily survive another Ember. Before I had the chance to say anything, the trainer yelled,

"Alright Ponyta, don't hold back! Use Tackle!"

As it suddenly came charging towards Andrea, I knew this attack was gonna hurt. With no time to react, I just stood there, stiff with shock as it came closer. Then out of almost nowhere, a shot of water blasted Ponyta, knocking it over on its side and leaving it defeated.

"Why don't you run off and leave her alone?"

I stood there in even more shock as a Buizel came out of the tall grass, revealing itself. The trainer looked at me angrily.

"Hey, it's against the rules that a wild pokemon can help you!"

"Wild? Uh, nonononono, he's mine I can assure you! Don't you run off like that again, I was worried sick!" I tried playing it cool as I made my attempted excuses, but I knew I sounded a little nervous.

Buizel gave me a weird look, "What? But I'm not-"

Acting on impulse, I got close and tapped him with a pokeball. "Good job out there though, uhh... _Nicky!_ Now get back into your Pokeball to rest..!"

I stared down nervously, praying that he wouldn't get out.

"Well, sorry for assuming things, you won fair and square!" The trainer apologized as he handed me some money.

"Thanks...!" I gave a sigh of relief as "Nicky's" Pokeball stopped moving around. I picked it up along with my winnings and walked a little further down the Route before letting the Buizel out. It was clear the he was pretty pissed.

 _"What was that?!_ I saved your little Shinx over there and you repay me by lying to that kid and capturing me?"

"Why did you interrupt a trainer battle in the first place? Isn't it common knowledge that wild pokemon aren't allowed to do that?"

"Hey, I didn't see the other trainer there, alright? Because it's so easy to see perfectly through the tall grass..."

I sighed, "Alright, alright, I guess you're right... I should be thanking you for helping out Andrea back there, sorry..."

"Nah... I'm sorry too. For yellin' at you. I've honestly been waiting to join a team, and I don't think I should be giving up the opportunity lyin' right in front of me. Besides, you already kinda captured me..."

"Right..!" I said through a chuckle. "Well, I'm sure you'll make a good edition to the team, Nicky! Oh, you don't want to change it, do you...?"

He shook his head, "Nope, Nicky will do nicely!"

"Good. Looks like we have two new members to train then!"

Why the early update? GOOD QUESTION! I won't be able to upload next week, so I figured I should get this one out as soon as I could. I'll be back to regular updates soon!


	7. Chapter 7: Change

I took some extra time on Route 205 to strengthen up Nicky and Gloria. It didn't take so long, and once their training was complete, it was time for them to have a little break and let the rest of the team battle...

Another trainer was left defeated, with Cole easily overpowering their Budew. As he stood victorious, he seemed to give off some sort of glow that continued to get brighter. A bit confused, I watched him transform into something different... something bigger and stronger. After the light faded, it took me a moment to realize...

 _"Cole!_ You evolved!" I excitedly ran over and hugged him, but he chuckled as he slipped from my grasp.

"Hell yeah I did! This is sweet, I'm a Fire and Fighting type now!" He said, throwing a few punches to the air.

Tyler grinned, "Hey, congrats! That'll make training a bit easier..."

"Speaking of which..." Nicky chimed in, "Are we almost done here? These pokemon are getting _way_ too easy to defeat..." He said as he nonchalantly punched an attacking Bidoof in the face.

I chuckled. "Okay Nicky, you're right, we should get moving."

"Aren't I always right?" He said with a smug smile.

"Sure ya are... I wonder how far off Eterna City is though."

All of a sudden, a trainer came speeding past me, his hands full with weakened pokemon. "I knew I should have brought Antidotes... Don't worry you guys, I'll get you to the Pokemon Center in time!"

I looked back in front of me and approached a huge mass of trees that towered above me. A small wooden sign in front of it read in faded text: "Eterna Forest". Below that in clearer, red letters read: "BEWARE OF POISON TYPES!"

"Well this is gonna be fun..." I sighed, slumping my shoulders. "...Alright, I have a plan. We'll go as far as we can with the supplies we have, then once we need to go heal, we'll go back to the Pokemon Center in Floaroma and buy what we need to get through the rest of the forest."

"Fine..." Tyler cracked his knuckles, "Let's just get this over with."

I took a deep breath as I took my first steps into the forest. It was nicer than I expected though, with trees nicely parted to make paths for trainers, and in no shortage of tall grass to find some pokemon. With enough Antidotes and/or trips to the pokemon center, this would make a great new training spot! Before I got the chance to explore a bit more, a tall girl with long green hair approached me, her face seemingly worried.

"Um... Excuse me, but is there any chance you could help me get through this forest? It's awfully big and I don't want to get lost in here... But you look like a strong trainer that could help me!"

"Are you kidding? I've got my own Pokemon to worry about, I don't need to go babysitting any more. Why should-"

"I can heal your Pokemon the way through if you want...!"

I immediately grabbed her wrist and started walking. "Y'know what, I just changed my mind for no particular reason at all!"

"Really? Thank you! My name's Cheryl by the way!"

"Yeah yeah, nice to meet you Cherry-"

"Cheryl."

"Sure, right. My name's Margaret."

I wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying, not that I really cared. All I knew was, I had a freaking portable Nurse Joy with me that I was undoubtedly going to take advantage of. I turned to the team, a grin on my face.

"Alright guys, get ready, because we're about to have some _SUPER-FOREST-GRINDING!"_ As I raised my fists in the air, my voice echoed through the trees. "Oh, and Cole? You'd better not start a forest fire..."

He smirked. "No promises...!"

As we continued our way through the forest, we were battling wild pokemon and trainers left and right without even breaking a sweat thanks to Carol's healing! Yet another one of those bug catchers got sight of me and challenged me to a battle.

"Go, Beautifly!"

"Hah, easy. You got this Cole!"

He quickly ran up to Beautifly, breathing fire to damage it. However, it retaliated and created a huge gust of wind with it's wings, leaving Cole flat on his back. As he slowly stood up I made sure I got him out of the battle.

"Alright Tyler, get in there and finish it off!"

He nodded confidently and charged at Beautifly, but was suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Beautifly held him back by using Absorb, quickly sapping every drop of energy he just had. As Tyler dropped limp after the attack, I rushed to his side quickly and picked him up.

"Ty! Hang in there, alright?"

Andrea was next to attack Beautifly as I took Tyler back to heal. She snarled, "Quit hurting my friends you jerk!"

I wasn't looking at the battle, I just wanted to make sure Tyler was going to be okay. But the look on Cara's face as I showed him to her worried me even more.

"I... I can't heal him with what I have..."

 _"You mean you're out of healing items?!"_

"No, I mean that the only way he'll make it is if you get a real Pokemon Center. Even then the chances are slim..."

"I don't care." I said, shaking my head. "If there's the chance at all, I'm gonna take it! Watch Andrea while I'm gone."

I didn't even wait for a response before I started to run back. But I didn't get very far before I heard Tyler's weak voice.

 _"Margaret..._ Just stop.."

Although for some reason I did, I looked down at him. "Tyler, are you _crazy_?! I need to get you fixed now!"

"No... Don't waste your energy. I'm.. I'm already a goner. Just make sure Andrea's alright..."

"I-I can't just-"

He forced a smile onto his face, "But hey... thanks for giving me one heck of a ride. . ."

My grip on him slowly loosened in disbelief as his eyes closed and his arms dropped. Tears formed in my eyes as I held him close and repeated his name to myself. I solemnly walked back to Cara and the fight that was still going on. As Andrea was preparing for the final blow, she emitted an electric aura, and just like Cole did earlier, she evolved right as she tackled the Beautifly to the ground. She was happy for just a moment until she found me crouched down with Tyler in my arms. She ran to my side, and just like with Zach, I found myself holding onto Andrea for comfort.

 **R.I.P Tyler**

Level 6-15

Everyone was silent after we buried Tyler and made his grave. I couldn't stop thinking about how I failed the team again... Maybe if I didn't listen to him and kept running I would've made it anyway. I could've saved him... _this is all my fau-_

"Um... miss? Why are you crying?"

I felt a tug at my shirt and looked down to find a little Wurmple by my side. I reached into my bag, and with a caring smile, I said to him, "Oh... Nothing you need to worry about...!"

I quickly pulled out a Pokeball and caught him by surprise. Andrea, who was still near me, spoke up. "Margaret? You think we should go yet? I don't think we should stay here too long..."

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm sick of this forest... But we still need to stay and train a new member...!"

I waved behind me, "Bye Speryl!"

"It's _Cheryl_!"

 _"Whatever!"_ I couldn't stop smiling as my Dustox floated beside me.

"Wow Evan, you evolved way quicker than I thought you would!"

"Yeah, that's how it is for most of us Bug-Types." He tilted his head to see Aline, who was sitting on my shoulder as always. "Hey, uh... Aline, right?"

"Mm-hmm!" She nodded, "What is it?"

"Well first of all, I just wanna say that I loved the story of how you survived that Onix's Rock Throw!"

"Oh stop it...!" She said, a bit embarrassed. She looked down at her wings, "It did come with a price though..."

"Oh, about that...! Now that I can fly, would you like it if I carried you around until you're back on your wings?"

Aline's face lit up. "Are you kidding me?! I'd love to! Maggie, get me up there!"

I chuckled as I gently lifted her off my shoulder onto Evans back. She held on tight while he flew around the air. I smiled as I watched the two; this was the happiest I've ever seen Aline! And for the first time, she called me Maggie... something that usually only Trevor calls me. Even then, I don't really like it when he does, but for some reason, I'm glad when Aline does...!

"You said the next town ahead is a city, right?" Evan asked, flying forward.

"Yeah, Eterna City is just up ahead!"

"There's a city named after the forest?"

"I think the forest was named after the city..."

"Either way, I've never seen a city before! Oh, can you tell me what _buildings_ are like?"

I chuckled, "Just be patient and you'll get to see one for yourself!"

"But I don't wanna be patient!" He pouted, but then put a grin on his face. "Hold on tight Aline, we're going to the city!" Evan suddenly sped up as he soared toward Eterna.

"Hey, wait up!" I chased after him with a big smile.

With Cole, Nicky and Andrea running alongside me as the wind blew in my face and brushed through my hair, I suddenly just felt alive. I held onto Gloria a little tighter as adrenaline pumped through every vein in my body, urging me to go even faster and never stop. The sound of my fast footsteps changed as I reached the bridges that stretched over a small lake. I continued running faster and faster, speeding past the fisherman sitting on the sides of the bridge. For just a moment I closed my eyes, and then- _SPLASH!_

I felt like I crashed into someone, but before I could even see who it was I fell backwards into the lake below me. In a bit of a panic, Nicky dove into the water and helped me get back up. Once we were both out I ended up drenched, lying on my back, and... laughing hysterically!

Cole looked at me like I was crazy, "Uh... Margaret? You could've drowned just now. What exactly is so funny...?"

I controlled my giggle fit to blurt out, "Because that was _fun_ , duh! Who did I even bump into?" I said as I sat up.

"That would be me...!" A tall woman, even taller than Darryl, with blonde hair and wearing all black spoke up. "I'm very sorry for making you fall like that!"

I shook my head, "No, don't worry about it. It was my fault anyway."

"Well, I feel like I should still make it up to you somehow... Oh! I know..."

She reached into her bag, handing me some sort of disc. "Here, it's an HM for your pokemon. It can teach them the move Cut! I'm sure it will be of good use to you."

"Oh, you don't have to-"

"Nonsense! If anything, just think of it as a special gift from one trainer to another. By the way, my name's Cynthia." She extended her hand.

I reached out my own to shake hands. "Margaret."

"Margaret.. I'll remember that in case we see eachother again. And I'm hoping we will..." She waved back to me as she turned around and walked away.

"Well, that was a little... weird. Wait- Where's Gloria?!"

"Down here!" She answered in her tiny voice. "You dropped me once you fell in the water, but I'm okay!"

"Oh, good...!" I crouched down to pick her up again. "Did Evan and Aline ever stop?"

Cole shook his head, "Nope. I don't think they even noticed you fall."

"Well then, we'd better go find them... Hopefully Eterna City isn't too big."

"It shouldn't be that hard to find them," Nicky said. "How hard could it be to spot an overly-excited Dustox with a Zubat on its back?"

"Still... I don't want them getting into any trouble or anything."

"Nah, I'm sure they'll be fine..."

"If you say so Nicky...!"

I took a moment to look on both sides of the disk Cynthia gave me as we kept walking. "Hidden Machine, huh...? Do any of you happen to know how these things work?"

Gloria sighed and looked up at me. "Put the HM on my forehead."

Confused, I did as I was told. Out of nowhere the HM started glowing, until it stopped with an oddly satisfying 'ding!'

"What in the name of...?"

Gloria then hopped out of my arms, approached a small tree, and slashed it down with her bud.

"So let me get this straight... By putting this weird disc on your head, you can now clear away trees...?"

Gloria nodded. "Yeah, basically."

I stayed silent for a minute, staring at the disk. "...Eh, works for me I guess." I shrugged and stuffed it back into my bag.

It was only a short distance until we came upon Eterna City. Although it was apparently a very old place, the newer houses and tall buildings gave it a more modern look. As I walked toward the nearest Pokemon Center, I kept my eyes up to the sky, looking for Evan. With no sign of them once we got to the red-roofed building, I turned to everyone.

"Alright team, I have a plan. It's starting to get late, so to speed up the search, everyone will split up to look for Evan and Aline, besides Gloria. She'll be with me!" I looked down at her with a smile. "We'll meet back here in an hour, got it? Ready... _G-"_

"There you guys are!" Evan called down to us from above. "Jeez, you took forever to get here! And why are you so wet?"

"Oh I only fell into the lake while chasing you..."

Aline giggled as she poked her head out from behind Evan. "Well we should probably go dry you off then...!"

"Good thing we're already at the Pokemon Center...!"

I smiled as the warm temperature from inside the building greeted me with open arms. By now, most trainers and their team were inside, getting healed and ready for some sleep. My first priority though, was to get some towels, and luckily I didn't even have to say anything for the nurses there to help dry me off. They even got that Magikarp smell off of me and reserved me a bed for the night. One perk I loved about the Pokemon Center besides free unlimited healing was that they _pampered_ trainers who come in. I guess they just want to make life more convenient for the 10-year old kids (well, in my case 16) who were thrown out of their hometowns to train Pokemon... Still, the towels there were warm and fluffy, like they just came out of the dryer, and I just loved it. After a change out of my still damp clothes, I rushed outside with Evan.

"Why are we out here again? It's starting to get cold..."

"Just a quick favor, alright? Do you think you can fly me up to the roof?"

"I'll try, but... why? It sounds kinda dangerous..."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine! Now get me up there!" I demanded, raising my arms.

Evan sighed and grabbed them tightly. "If you say so..."

He slowly lifted me from the ground, straining as he brought me up higher. Eventually I could climb up on my own, and an exhausted Evan collapsed on the flat roof. I chuckled as I let out the rest of the team.

Nicky yawned, "I sure am ready to get some good- _HOLY SHIFTRY WHY ARE WE ON THE ROOF?!"_

"Be careful not to fall!" I said through a laugh.

"Thanks for that thought Margaret...! Seriously though, maybe a little warning next time?"

"Well, I wanted to keep it a surprise!"

"Keep what a surprise?" Gloria asked.

"This!" I spread my arms open in the opposite direction, revealing the sun lowering beautifully over the city in a mix of orange, yellow and pink clouds. Everyone stared in awe, even Cole, who for once was actually smiling!

...For all the time we spent up there, not even a word was spoken. All I had to do was exchange a look with one of them to know I had a connection with them beyond just being their trainer. I closed my eyes and smiled, soaking in the moment. And as a breeze flew by, I could've sworn for at least a moment I felt the soft feathers of a Starly brush up against me, as well as the rugged edges of a Geodude hand by my side. I didn't bother to look down or even move, I just kept gazing at the gorgeous sunset.

Just like Cole, Andrea and Evan, it was then I knew for sure that because of this journey, I had changed.

Yet... oddly enough, this feeling was somewhat... familiar...

 _Why. . .?_


	8. Chapter 8: Kicking grASS

"Alright Aline, you ready to try this out?"

"N-no!" She cried, clinging to the branch of a tree. "I changed my mind, get me down from here!"

"Oh come on... You won't know if you're healed if you don't try! Please?"

"I don't wanna, my wings don't feel better yet! I-"

"Hey, even if you can't fly yet, you don't need to worry about anything!" Evan said with a caring smile. "I'll catch you, I promise. Okay?"

Aline stayed quiet for a second, then took a deep breath in. "...Okay."

She reluctantly dove from the branch and started flapping her small wings, but she gained no height and gradually fell. Evan, as promised, was there as her wings gave out and she landed on his back. He looked at her behind him.

"Aw, you almost had it! Nice try though...!"

"Heh, thanks! At least I can still fly with you for now. But I'm not gonna stay grounded forever!"

Evan nodded, clearly blushing. But with Aline being blind and all, she was completely oblivious to his little crush... for now.

"So, do you think all that 'super-forest-grinding' will be enough training for us to take on the next gym leader?" Nicky asked as we walked back to the city.

"Hmmm... Nope!"

"WHAT?!" Cole groaned. "But we were training in the forest for hours! And do you know how hard it was to kill all those bugs and not light a single tree on fire?!"

Andrea walked near him, "For once, I'm with Cole. We've gotten so much stronger since Roark; how could we not be prepared by now?"

"I feel pretty ready to fight some Gym Leaders!" Nicky added in.

As the rest casually agreed, I glared over the team. "We don't know how strong they might be! Hell, we haven't even gone there to check what type they specialize in! And in case some of you have forgotten, the last time I thought we were ready for a gym battle, we lost a team member!"

All at once, Cole, Andrea and Aline looked at me for a long second before they lowered their heads in a bit of shame. The other half, only ever being told about Zach, shifted their guilty eyes to the ground. A silence came over everyone, and I knew I was the one who would have to break it.

I sighed, "...I'm sorry guys... I know I really shouldn't be bringing him up like this, but... I don't want to make the same stupid mistake again! I don't want to lose any of you..."

Cole lifted his head, a little surprised. I meant to look over the entire team, but my eyes kept drifting back to him. I didn't want to lose him either... Especially not him.

The feeling of a soft bud brushing up against the bottom of my leg focused my attention down to Gloria. "Of course you don't, I'm sorry for not understanding. Besides, you're our trainer, so you know what's best for us! If it means a few more days of fighting for everyone, I'm okay with holding off the Gym battle so we know we're prepared."

I smiled at the fragile and innocent little Budew down at my feet and lowered myself to pick her up. "Thank you Gloria..."

I looked back over to the rest of the team. "Well? What do you guys think?"

"I think it's great that you're looking out for us Margaret!" Andrea winked as she came over to me and sat by my side.

Evan and Aline looked at eachother and nodded. "Evan and I both agree!" Aline said with a smile as Evan flew her over.

Nicky shrugged, "I still think you're being overly-worried about this whole thing, but I guess it's better safe than sorry."

And last but not least, Cole was left standing. To my slight surprise, he simply looked at me with a smile and nodded as he joined everyone else.

As the whole team was together, we decided to have a cheesy group hug moment. After enough hugging, I yelled, "Alright that's enough mushy stuff for one day! Now who's ready for some training?"

The team cheered and scrambled off to find the nearest route.

 _"Hold it!"_ I shouted, bringing everyone to a halt. "First things first, we gotta check out the gym!"

"Riiiight...!" Andrea said with a guilty smile. "In that case we have to find out where-"

"Oh! I know where it is!" Evan said excitedly. "Aline and I passed over it when we got here earlier yesterday! Follow my lead!"

In almost no time, Evan glided his way through Eterna City, leading us to the gym like he'd been there a million times before. The sliding doors opened up to what was practically an indoor forest! The bushes and trees were lined up nicely and gave adequate space for battles. Once Cole came inside, he looked around and grinned.

"Just the sight of all this green makes me think that I'm gonna like this place a whole lot...!" He cracked his knuckles with a devious smile.

Evan scoffed, "Grass types I'm assuming? They won't stand a chance!"

I smirked. "Not after a little training they won't! Still, we should make sure they use grass in here first, just to be safe..."

"On it!" Cole ran over to the first trainer he could find, and with a little help from Evan he soon left them defeated.

"Yep. It's Grass alright." Cole said, standing over a charred Cherubi.

"Well that was easy...!"

"Sure was! I handled that pretty well, don't ya think?" Evan glared at him and gave him a punch in the shoulder. "Ow...! Alright, _we_ handled that pretty well..." He turned to Evan and stuck his tongue out. "Either way, since this trainer was so easy, I doubt the gym leader will be much of a problem! In fact, I bet we could take her on now! Right guys?"

As Cole tried to waltz up to the gym leader, I quickly yanked his tail to pull him back. "Nice try, but I thought we already went through this! We're gonna be training whether you like it or not!"

"Ow ow ow! Okay fine! I'll train, now would ya just let go of me?! This is a lot more painful than it looks ya know!"

He stumbled forward as I let go, and crossed his arms once he regained his balance. Cole may have evolved, but he's still no more mature than when he was a little Chimchar...

"Are we done here now?" Nicky said, brushing a few fallen leaves off of him. "I really hate being around all these grass types..."

"Don't worry, you won't need to battle any of them. But for now, let's head out for some training!"

As everyone exited the gym, I went rummaging through my bag.

"We're not going back to the forest, are we?" Nicky asked.

"Nah, the Pokemon there are way too weak for us to make any fast progress." I said, pulling out my map and scanning it over. "But...! Route 211 is right next to the city, and it should have some trainers around, plus there are stronger Pokemon to fight! Maybe we'll even find a few new ones!"

"That sounds perfect!" Andrea said happily.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go Evan!" He nodded and soared off with Aline.

"Not this again...!" I groaned as I started running after them. "EVAAAAN! Get back here!"

I continued yelling as I chased them around the city, but he suddenly stopped once he got over to route 211. Out of breath, I finally managed to catch up. "Evan... quit... _doing that...!"_

"Shh."

"Don't you 'shh' me!"

" _Shhh!_ I don't wanna disturb the Meditite over there...!" Evan said with a whisper.

"...Why? What's it even doing?" I asked, trying to figure out what was so interesting about watching this thing sit with its legs crossed.

"It's meditating, duh. I heard that when Meditite concentrates hard enough, they can float while sitting like that!"

"Really...? I kinda doubt that..."

"Oh come on, just watch!"

"Fine..."

I crossed my arms, still skeptical that it was actually gonna levitate off the ground... But I waited... and waited... and waited... until I realized that this was stupid!

"Well it looks like I was right! C'mon Evan let's go..."

"What?! Can't we please stay just a little longer?"

"No way. We just missed _hours_ of training watching that thing!"

"It's been five minutes..."

"Y'know what? Fine," I sighed, "You can see the Meditite float later." I said, aiming a Pokeball and throwing.

It was startled at the sudden disturbance but was too slow to block it in time. Luckily I caught it without fail!

"Yes!" I cheered, throwing my fists in the air and picking up the Pokeball. "I'll call her... Genevieve! ...Wait, we already have a full team, so...?"

I watched curiously as a beam of light unexpectedly consumed Genevieve's Pokeball, and then just disappeared with it.

"She was sent to the PC." Andrea answered. "Y'know, the weird computer-looking things at the pokemon center? If you ever need her, you can get her out with a simple few button clicks!"

"So that's what those things are... Well, with that out of the way, let's start training!"

And so we did. Everyone did their best to fight their way through trainers and wild pokemon, each defeat making them stronger. A little less than a week of training went by, and I decided that after all their hard work, it was time for a reward.

"Another one down!" Andrea declared, standing over her exhausted and paralyzed foe.

"Nice job as usual! Now c'mere everyone!" I kept a small smile on my face as the team gathered around me. "First of all, I just wanna say how awesome you guys have been doing in training! I know it's been hard work though, which is why for the rest of the day today, we're gonna kick back and relax for awhile!"

"Sweet!" Nicky exclaimed.

"I've been needing a bit of a break... Sounds good to me!" Andrea added in. "Theres a few things to do around the city... Where to first?"

I opened my mouth, but was interrupted by my growling stomach. "Heh...! Maybe we should grab some lunch?"

Aline giggled, "Yeah, maybe we should!"

"To the Pokemon Center it is then! They should be giving out lunch right about now anyway."

We left Route 112, chatting with each other a little as we made our way back to Eterna. The doors to the familiar Pokecenter slid open, where many trainers were spread out, eating the food being given out by a few Chansey. As soon as I stepped in, one of them approached me, smiling brightly.

"Hello there! Would you like me to bring you some lunch, miss?"

"Yes please! Could you get some for them too?" I asked, pointing behind me at the team.

"Of course." She replied with a small bow before she walked out into a different room.

While I was waiting, I had Nurse Joy heal the team. I stood by the counter top, looking over the whole room as I took my Pokemon back, leaving them in their Pokeballs. I noticed one Pokemon that was serving lunch like the other Chansey, only this one's appearance was much different, and it's steps seemed a bit more timid. I watched it curiously.

"Hey, Nurse Joy?" I asked, my eyes still focused on the Pokemon. "What kind of Pokemon is that? I don't think I've heard of or seen anything like that before..."

The nurse looked over to where I was pointing. "...Oh! That's Audino! They don't live here in Sinnoh, she just recently came all the way from Unova to get here! Even there, Audino are rare to come by."

"Wow...!" I said, intrigued.

Even though I had seen plenty of outer-region Pokemon from all of the TV shows Trevor used to make me watch, I knew next to nothing about Unova. I heard someone come up behind me, breaking my train of thought. Once I turned around, I grinned at the meal brought to me by one of the Chansey. I let the team out and found an isolated spot in the room for the seven of us to sit. Once everyone else's food was passed out, I scarfed down my plate of macaroni and cheese with Torchic nuggets. I had to admit that the food they usually served here wasn't anything amazing, but it wasn't terrible either. It didn't really matter to me then though, because all I knew was that I was hungry. I finished my food faster than a speeding Jolteon, leaving me plenty of time to look over a map of Eterna to find some things to do while the team ate. I glanced over at everyone for a moment.

"Oh, by the way guys, I was planning on challenging the gym tomorrow, so be ready for some early morning battles."

Nicky smirked. "You say that so casually...!"

"What...?"

"The other week you were so worried about the gym!" He said with his mouth half full. "Now it's like no big deal to you! Just saying..."

"Well yeah, but now you guys are trained, and since half of you have a type advantage, this should be a cinch!"

"Speaking of which..." Aline said, "I know that since I still can't fly my Flying-type attacks aren't as powerful, but... I-I still wanna help with the battle tomorrow!"

I stared at her for a quiet moment, then just smiled. "Hey, there's no need for that. Cole and Evan will be able to handle it just fine!"

"But what if they can't? What if something goes wrong, or-"

"Aline, you really don't need to worry about us!" Evan said, putting his wing around her, "And if anything bad really does happen, we still have Andrea for backup!"

"But even if my attacks are weaker, they still do something! If someone gets hurt, I don't want to just sit there and watch, I want to help!"

"I know you do. But you're already hurt, and trying to use your wings will only slow down your healing! Understand that we're just looking for what's best for you Aline."

She sighed, lowering her head. "Fine..."

Evan gave a breath of relief. "Thank you."

"I hate being grounded like this..." She grumbled, picking at her food.

"...So what's the plan for the rest of the day?" Evan asked me a bit awkwardly, flying to sit on the top of my head.

"Hmm... I think there's a bike shop nearby... If I can afford it, it'll definitely make travel a lot faster!"

"Let's go then!" Nicky said, gulping down the rest of his lunch.

...

"Of _course_ the owner is out..." I said angrily as I stood in front of the surprisingly small store.

"That's okay, I'm sure there's still more to do here! And maybe later he'll be back!"

"Gloria's right, we should go explore the city some more!" Aline said in her now happier mood.

"I guess so... Evan, care to be our tour guide?"

"Yes ma'am!" He answered, saluting me.

A whole afternoon full of roaming the city went by, with Evan leading us half the time, and the other half raving over things like tall buldings, statues, and even a lamp post that forest pokemon like him don't get the chance to see. Regardless of the minimal things Eterna had to do, he and everyone else were quite happy just sightseeing and taking a break from the constant fighting.

But before we knew it the sun had disappeared and stars begun to speckle the dark sky, so we walked back to the Pokemon Center to get some sleep. Although all of the bedrooms in there were the same size, everyone's evolutions, despite them being almost a week ago, still made it seem a bit smaller to me.

As I was getting ready to finally call it a night, I heard something jump up on the open windowsill. Slightly alarmed, I turned my head quickly. "OHMYGOSH! It-it's so cute!" I yelled, scaring the small squirrel-like pokemon and causing its fur to stand on end. I grabbed the first empty pokeball I could find and hurled it at the pokemon as it attempted to scamper away. I reached out the window and brought my newest capture into the light, where I had it scanned by my Pokedex.

"Pachirisu, huh...?" I said to myself, pronouncing the name slowly. She crossed her arms from inside her Pokeball, obviously not too happy about her confinement. "Hmm... Don't worry Amy, you'll have company!" Just as she was sent off to the PC, Andrea peeked her head in.

"Hey, uh... everything alright in here? Thought I heard some noises..."

"Don't worry about it, a little surprise just came in through my window, that's all."

"...What?"

"Nothing...!" I smirked, waving her off.

I flopped down on the bed in the corner, waiting for everyone else to come into the room. I heard Aline's irritated voice first as Evan carried her in.

"I am sick and tired of literally everyone asking me why I can't fly!"

"Well can you blame them for being curious?"

"No, but... but still, it's getting a bit annoying to have to explain the story over and over and over! And the 'mons that don't ask why just stare at me like I have a second head!"

I chuckled. "Sounds like someone had fun talking to the other Pokemon...!"

"Yeah right... I swear I won't socialize with anyone outside the team till I'm evolved."

Everyone else quietly came in after a few minutes, the only noise being a few yawns and the slight creaking of the floorboards. Unfortunately that peacefulness was broken once Cole dragged his feet into the room and fell with a thud to the ground, not seeming to care that he landed on his face.

"Tired... need... sleep..." He moaned.

"Yeah, we all do." I said through a small laugh while rubbing my eye.

"Night guys..." I flicked the lights off and went back under my covers, and without another word, we all drifted off to sleep.

...

"Now remember, this place has trees everywhere, so just remember: no burning anything down! Not on purpose at least."

"Uhg, fine." Cole whined, clearly still tired.

Evan flew alongside me, carrying Aline like always. I kept everyone else inside their pokeballs as I once again approached Eterna City's gym. I made my way through the huge maze of trees inside until I reached a dead end. Waiting for me there was the gym leader, Gardenia.

"Well, well, well..." She said with a grin. "Looks like you made it past the trainers and figured out your way through! Just be warned, I'm much better than those amateurs...!"

"Oh no worries! I already know you're strong. So I came prepared..." I said as Cole stepped up in front of me, taking a fighting stance.

"Fire types... it's always fire types!" She grumbled. "Whatever. You can still do this Cherubi!"

"Cole, Flame Wheel."

He nodded and shot a circle of flames towards Cherubi, giving it no time to react before the attack sent her flying backwards, already too weak to fight.

"Wha- Already? Alright Turtwig, you're up! use-"

Once again, the Turtwig was instantly knocked out in just one hit by Cole. Infuriated, Gardenia viciously sent out her next and final pokemon, Roserade.

"C'mon Roserade, don't let this fire monkey make a fool of you! Use Poison Sting!"

Without hesitation, it sent a small thorn from its rose to hit Cole, but before it could, Evan stepped in to block it. He smirked, brushing off the thorn like it was nothing. At my command, he created a huge gust of wind with his wings, obviously hurting his foe much worse than it just hurt him. Aline watched intently from my shoulder, ready to jump in and fight when and if she needed.

"They'll be fine...!" I whispered to her, gently petting her head.

She didn't respond though, she just continued watching as another poisonous thorn hit Evan, and as he once again retaliated with Gust. Next, Roserade knotted vines around his torso, and with a pull, slammed him down to the ground. He broke free easily though, and sent another flurry of wind towards Roserade, this time knocking it off of it's feet. I grinned.

"Cole, now's your chance! Finish it!"

He ran full speed towards the Roserade while it was vulnerable, ready to use another Flame Wheel. But he suddenly stopped and dropped to his knees as it sent yellow dust flying out of its rose.

 _"Gotchya now...!"_ Roserade smirked, hopping back onto it's feet.

While Cole was still stunned, it used Poison Sting, although it didn't do much more damage than it did to Evan. Cole chuckled as he took the thorn out, getting back on his feet. That chuckle soon turned into a laugh, even as a few more thorns hit him.

"Wh-WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!" The Roserade shouted angrily.

 _"Because!"_ He said with a huge grin as Poison Sting struck him again. "Because you actually think that slowing me down will make you win...! You think I'm still not as powerful?" He still laughed as he took a few more steps towards the Roserade. "Well let me tell you something..." His silly smile was replaced with a devilish grin. "You're _dead wrong."_

He made a circle of flames and flung it towards the Roserade, who was finally defeated. Cole pumped his fists in victory, standing over the charred Roserade. However... on the other side of the room, Gardenia had a meltdown over her loss. She stomped the ground furiously and even started tearing up the grass in a fit of rage. One of the trainers from the gym came over to check on us.

"Oh no, not again..."

"Er, is she alright..?"

"Yeah yeah, this happens all the time."

"But.. What about my badge...?"

"Y'KNOW WHAT?!" Gardenia screamed. "JUST TAKE IT AND GET OUTTA MY GYM!" She threw the badge at me and continued uprooting and shredding the grass around her. I backed away slowly and sprinted out the door once I was out of sight.

"She had one heck of a temper... Especially for a Grass-type specialist, who are usually the calm ones!"

"Hah, yeah..!" Evan chuckled, flying over to Aline. "And as for you... didn't I tell you we would be okay?"

"Alright, alright, I'll admit you were right, okay?" She said, sounding a little annoyed.

"Hey, please don't be mad at me... I promise you can help with all of the battles you want once you can fly again."

"You really think I can stay mad either way?" She chuckled. "I don't think I'd wanna hold a grudge against the guy who helps me fly." She said, hopping from my shoulder on his back.

"Phew... Good! So Margaret, now that we-"

" _HEY YOU! GIMME YOUR POKEMON!"_ Some random stranger yelled at me.

I stared at him in the strangest way for a straight 5 seconds. "... _Why?"_

"Bec- uh... Oh wait, I think I'm supposed to battle you first... But once I win, _THEN GIMME YOUR POKEMON!"_

I was extremely confused on the inside, but since I was getting used to all of this weird stuff happening to me, I shrugged it off. "Alright then." I said casually, sending out the team.

The guy looked at them, dumbfounded. "Uh... Y'know what..? You look pretty tough, I'm just gonna... go now..." He backed away nervously and ran away.

"...What was that all about?" Nicky asked.

"I have no idea..."

"I think I do." Andrea said as she pointed to the stranger, who took off his large trench coat and hat near a building and went inside. I immediately recognized that stupid-looking uniform that was under the coat.

"Galactic..."

(A.N.)

Frick did I forget to update? ...Whoops. Sorry about that, Updates should be pretty consistent from here on out. Now lemme clear some confusion you might have about Amy. I actually caught her back in Valley Windworks, but y'know, Margaret never actually went there in the story. I was never planning on using her either, so I figured she didn't really need to be mentioned. But then I worked her into this chapter anyway. :b


	9. Chapter 9: Not Again

"What are those Galactic jerks doing here?" Andrea snarled. "I thought Trevor took care of them back at Floaroma!"

"We even _saw_ him the other day, right?!" Cole said, confused.

I stared at the building that the Galactic grunt ran into. "Yeah... They must've sent another group of people here after their plans were ruined before."

"So let's go ruin some more plans then!"

" _Wait_! All we know is that Team Galactic is _annoying_ , not necessarily bad... I don't wanna go causing anymore trouble."

" _Seriously_? They tried to mug Lucas, and they just threatened to steal us from you. That doesn't give off a bad vibe at all?"

"Well yeah, but it's pretty obvious from the last few times we've seen them that these guys are no threat to us, and I really don't want to waste time on them. Besides, no one else around seems to be-" A very loud scream interrupted me, coming from behind a building. "This had better not be Lucas again..."

I followed the source to a little girl on her knees, crying. I knelt down to her.

"Woah, what's wrong? Can you tell me what happened?"

"T-T-Team Galactic...! They-they stole my Clefairy! And daddy's still missing...! W-where are they?" She began to sob even more, but I tried calming her down.

"Hey, it's okay, everything will be fine. I can get your Clefairy back and find your dad!"

She used her sleeve to wipe her runny nose and looked up at me. "Really...?"

"Mm-hmm! Don't worry about a thing, this'll be a piece of cake!"

"Ah! Thank you!" She beamed, throwing her wet hands around me in a hug. I awkwardly patted her back, then stood up and turned to Cole. He gave me a smug 'I-told-you-so' look.

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get any words out, I interrupted him, throwing my hand in front of his face. "Don't you dare say _anything_. Let's just go."

Cole held back cocky laughter as we approached the building that the Galactic grunt ran into. It was even bigger than the Gym, menacingly towering over the team. Of course I had seen it before, but I never bothered to go inside because of the wall of small trees and bushes entirely surrounding it. It looked older and a bit more run-down compared to the other buildings in Eterna City, so I always figured it was abandoned.

Gloria slashed through the leaves and vines of the bushes, creating a small opening for us to pass through. Unfortunately, a few Galactic members guarded the door, ready to fight. I was expecting them to change their choice in Pokemon this time for stronger ones, but again we tore our way through the handful of goons and their weak pokemon trying to prevent us from getting upstairs.

"Yeesh, these guys are just too easy... Just gotta get through whoever's upstairs and save that Clefairy, then we're out!"

"Yep! Let's wrap this up quick!" Andrea dashed up the stairs with me following behind, literally right at her tail. I looked around at the single room upstairs, where many Pokemon were scattered around, frightened. Most of them were small and pre-evolved, wondering where their trainer was.

I noticed a few figures in the back corner, both completely tied up with their heads drooping down. As I walked closer, one of them jerked their head up at the sound of my footsteps. The moment our eyes met, his face lit up.

 _"M-Margaret!_ You're okay!"

" _Lucas_?! What are you talking about?! Of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?"

"But... After you went missing while searching for Team Galactic in Jubilife, I just thought they-"

" _ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"_ I heard a female voice scream from downstairs. Her enraged footsteps got louder as she stormed up the staircase. "I leave them alone for _five minutes_ and they all managed to get their asses kicked... This had better not be that blonde brat again!"

As she walked in, all of the pokemon fled to the back wall, cowering in fear. I took a good look at the purple-haired woman that had just entered. Although her outfit wasn't exactly like a standard Galactic uniform, it still shared the same colors and had Galactic's insignia printed on the chest. And she must've had to use at least half a tub of hair gel to be able to style it the way she did. That, or it can just defy the laws of physics. Either way, the pigtail standing up tall atop her head along with the perfectly rounded bun in the back just baffled me as I continued to stare.

She put a hand on her hip and smirked as she too looked me over. "Well you're new..." She chuckled, "Look kid, I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into. Unless you wanna end up like those two back there, I'd suggest you leave now."

"Yeah, right! I didn't get past all those sucky guards for nothing! How much harder could you be anyway?"

She laughed, with an evil grin kept on her face. "For just a kid you sure are feisty! You don't even know who I am, do you?"

"No, but I do know one thing. I _will_ win."

"Oh really...?" She raised an eyebrow as she looked down at me. "Alright then, you asked for it! Prepare to be brought down by _me, Commander Jupiter!"_ She sent out her first Pokemon, a Zubat. "Oh, and just so you know... I won't be going easy on-" **_ZAP!_**

The Zubat fell with a thud to the ground, unable to fight after one hit from Andrea. "You were saying...?"

Frustrated, she grabbed her second and last Pokeball. "Why you little-! Skuntank, wipe the floor with them! _Don't hold back!"_

Just looking at it's intimidating glare gave me a gut feeling that this one meant real business. I looked back at Evan. "Hey, I'm gonna need Aline for this one."

"A-are you sure?" He asked in uncertainty.

I nodded in reply. "Don't worry, I know she's in no shape to fight that thing. But I have a plan, so just trust me."

Reluctantly, he allowed me to pick up Aline and set her down to the floor, facing Skuntank. Jupiter scoffed and muttered an inaudible command. Her Pokemon shrieked loudly, causing everyone but her to wince and cover their ears. Suddenly, a memory of my battle with Roark hit me like a truck. "That was Screech, which means... Oh no. _Aline_! Use Supersonic, _hurry_!"

In an instant, she let out a cry of her own, but instead of making Skuntank more vulnerable, this one left her foe wobbling on its feet, confused. As it was trying to balance itself properly on its feet, I took the opportunity to send Cole out and use Leer. As he continued to scowl at Skuntank, it let out another Screech. Cole held his ears closed and shouted, "Would you _shut up already!"_ He threw a quick punch to it's chest, both stopping the terrible noise and knocking it backwards a bit. But of course, it used Screech again, and by now I knew Cole would hardly be able to take a hit.

Without even being told, Nicky bolted towards Skuntank, pushing Cole aside. "He said be _quiet_!" Nicky yelled loud enough to be heard over Skuntank's shrieking as he angrily used Rock Smash. Although it still stood on it's feet, it was evident that it was getting weaker.

" _Fine..."_ It spoke in a harsh tone along with heavy breaths. "If you don't want me screeching so much, then I suppose it's time for a snack break...!" It then pulled out a yellow-colored berry from it's fur and ate it, regaining some health.

"Oh for the love of...!"

"I got this!" Cole shouted as he charged towards Skuntank, ready to send a few good punches its way. However, he was suddenly blasted with poisonous gas, forcing him to stop and cover his mouth with his arm as he tried not to breathe too much of it in. Not being able to attack, he simply used Leer again, waiting for the smog to clear up. Skuntank, on the other hand, used that to its advantage and finally decided to do some damage. A dark aura surrounded its claws as it jumped up and powerfully swiped Cole, knocking him to the ground. He struggled to get up, but the damage he took on top of the poison was too much.

"Alright Cole, that's enough! Rest up, okay?" I sent him back into his pokeball and looked back at the rest of the team. "Hmm... Andrea, you're up! Give it all you got!"

With that determined look of hers, she nodded and confronted Skuntank. She first tried getting close in order to bite it, but that proved to be a terrible idea as it dodged the attack and emitted another wave of poisonous gas. Although Andrea stumbled backwards as quickly as she could, the fumes still reached her. Keeping her distance this time, she stood her ground and let the static electricity in her fur charge, causing it to stand on end. Skuntank sped towards her while she kept still, using another Shadow Claw to badly scratch her shoulder and strike her to the ground. Even though I was about to call Andrea back from fighting any more, slowly but surely she got back up. By now her new wound started to draw blood, and she cringed, harshly lowering her head as the poison bubbled up in her mouth and dripped down the sides of her face.

"Andrea, don't push yourself! You gotta get back, t-the others can handle it...!" I tried bluffing, but she saw through me like glass.

"You and I both know that they can't Margaret! Just trust me, I didn't stand there using Charge for no reason!"

"But-" I tried to protest, but Andrea ignored me. In what seemed to be a split second, Skuntank appeared right behind her, trying to surprise attack her before she could turn around. By some sort of miracle, she managed to just barely dodge it. Andrea became _really_ pissed from the attempted foul play, and immediately unleashed her pent up power, continuously electrocuting Skuntank until it was lying on the floor, twitching and with it's fur completely seared black.

My mouth was gaping, both because of the terrifying amount of damage Andrea just dealt added to the fact that she could've just _died_. Jupiter was almost equally as shocked.

"This... this is _impossible!_ How could _my_ Skuntank have been beaten by a trainer like this?!"

She begun to rant on and on, but I tuned her out as I checked in on Andrea, who was now lying exhausted on the floor. "I know, I know, that was stupid and dangerous..." She strained to get her words out as she panted heavily.

"Yes. Yes it was. But y'know... I'm starting to get used to all the stupid and dangerous things you and the team do." We both laughed a bit, but Andrea started coughing afterwards. "But seriously, you're gonna be okay, right?"

"Of course...!" She said through a weak smile. "Just get me inside my Pokeball."

I nodded, "Right." Grabbing her pokeball, I called her back, a bright light enveloping her before she disappeared into the red and white sphere that fit so perfectly in my hand.

Meanwhile, Jupiter was wrapping up her enraged monologue. "- _and that will be the day that Galactic finally brings peace and justice to not just the world, but the entire GALAXY!"_ She lowered her dramatically raised fist and took a deep breath in. "Mark my words, this _isn't_ the end. _TEAM GALACTIC FOREVER!_ " She threw a smoke bomb, even though you could still see and hear her fleeing down the stairs. I rolled my eyes and walked to the back, where the smaller pokemon all crowed around my legs, thanking me and talking about how cool the battle was. Although it was adorable, I had to force my way past them to get to Lucas and the other hostage.

"That was _amazing_...!" Lucas said in awe as I tried untying him. "I mean, right when I thought Andrea was down and out, she just kept going! Oh, will she be alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine..." I replied, struggling with the tight knots. "Uhg, forget this. _Gloria_!" She waddled to my side from the crowd of stolen Pokemon, who were pelting her and everyone else with all sorts of questions.

"Yes?" She asked, looking at me with those adorable little eyes.

"I need you to cut both of them free, because I'm not wasting time on stupid knots."

She giggled and nodded, easily slicing the ropes apart in an instant. The other man stood up and went rummaging through the stolen pokemon, while Lucas waved his arms around, happy to be able to move them again.

"Thank you so, so much for saving me Margaret!" He spread his arms out and started getting closer.

" _INCOMING HUG ALERT!"_ I screamed as I pushed my hands out to block him and backed away quickly.

I felt bad and sighed as he put his hands down, frowning. "Look, I just... I don't really like hugs, okay?"

"Y-yeah, sorry...! How about I give you something to show my thanks! Can I see your watch for a quick second?"

"Sure, I guess..." I unstrapped the red and black watch off my wrist, handing it to Lucas. "Just be careful, alright? My mom would kill me if she found out it broke...!"

"Don't worry, I know how expensive these things are, so I'll be sure not to drop it!"

He tapped away at the small screen of the watch and handed it back to me after a minute or so. I looked at it strangely. "...What did you do exactly...?"

"If you go through your applications, you'll see that I installed a dowsing machine to it! With just a tap on the screen it'll help you find hidden items!"

"Cooool...!" I said as I played around with it.

As someone behind me cleared his throat, I turned around and saw the other hostage with a Clefairy in his hands.

"I don't mean to interrupt anything, but I just wanted to say thank you for freeing us both! I was trying to get my daughter's Clefairy back when that Jupiter lady threw me in here... Anyway, I own the bike shop nearby, so drop by once you get the chance!" He waved back as he promptly left the building.

"Will do!"

"Hey, we should probably get going too. Galactic took out all my pokemon when I came here, so-"

" _CRAP!"_ I yelled, remembering my own hurt Pokemon. "How the heck did I forget about Andrea?! I gotta get her to the Pokemon Center NOW." I instantly called everyone back to their pokeballs and raced out the door, flying past both Lucas and the bike shop owner.

I knew she said she told me she would be fine, but I couldn't help worrying, even after I arrived inside of the cozy building. I rushed up to the counter, handing Nurse Joy the team as calmly as I could. She took them with a smile, gingerly sliding them across the table into her arms. I found a place to sit while I waited for them to be healed, just like always.

Even though I knew it wouldn't take much time before they came back out, it seemed like hours before I was called up. I jumped to my feet and hastily swiped up the pokeballs that were handed to me. Although I was glad to have them back, my heart felt like it dropped into my stomach as soon as I realized I was only holding five.

"W-where's...?"

"Don't worry, your Luxio just needed... a _little_ extra care."

"But she'll be okay, right?!"

"Yes, of course! I'll take you to where she's resting up if you want to see her."

I nodded and let everyone out as Nurse Joy guided us to a hallway in the back of the building, lined with doors that were either closed or led to an empty room. A few seconds of silence passed by as we walked, then Evan floated over to me.

"Y'know, Andrea _herself_ said she'd be okay. She wouldn't lie to you."

"I know... But almost every time we've gotten into a major battle, one of you ends up badly hurt!"

Aline chuckled, "Dude, that's only been like, three battles! Besides, that's how you learn to improve so we can avoid things like this from happening again."

"She's right ya know!" I heard a voice call from a short distance.

I turned my head to see Andrea, sitting in one of the rooms with a smile. Despite the bandage wrapped around her right arm, I was relieved to see her okay.

" _Andrea_! You feeling any better?" I asked as I ran to her side and petted her head gently.

"Are you kidding? I've been feeling fine ever since I got here! That Skuntank just left a little scratch behind...!"

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Riiight... So Nurse Joy, how much longer is she gonna have to stay here?"

"Let's see..." She responded, flipping through some neatly stacked papers on a clipboard, "We just need to check her for a few things, which shouldn't take long at all! After that, she's all yours! Oh, but no fighting for her until tomorrow at the earliest."

"Got it! So, I guess we should get outta here for now?"

She nodded, "We'll bring her to the front once we're done!"

And so I was stuck waiting again, but this time it was a little more cheerful! I knew everyone was okay, and most of my team was right there with me as we sat patiently on the comfortable couches of the Pokemon Center.

Cole and Nicky were talking with eachother, occasionally snickering at whatever the other was saying. Gloria was curled up in my arms, and Aline was near Evan as always, subconsciously humming a short tune to herself. For a minute he simply stared at her, admiring every note she sung, until finally he decided to speak up.

"...I like your song Aline!" Evan said with a smile.

She suddenly turned her head towards him, coming back from the trance she seemed to be in. "Huh...? Oh, thank you..!"

"Why don't you sing like that more often?"

"What do you mean?"

He stayed silent for a moment, shifting around a bit awkwardly. "I-I just think you have a nice singing voice!"

"Nah, it's not all that great..." Aline admitted through a chuckle.

"Sure it is! I know I've only just heard you sing, but don't put yourself down! You really have some talent!"

"I really don't think I'm _that_ good... But thanks anyway!"

As Nurse Joy called my name, my focus broke from Aline and Evan to Andrea, who was walking out from the back. As I got a closer look at her, I noticed that her bandage was removed, and that a small scar was left from where the Skuntank attacked her. After seeing my slightly worried expression, she looked at me reassuringly, silently telling me for the fifth time that she was going to be fine.

" _Margaret_!" I spun my head around at the sound of a familiar voice and saw Lucas running toward me. "Is everything okay? You've been here awhile a-and I just got a little worried..."

"It's alright, everyone turned out to be okay!" I said as I playfully ruffled Andreas fur.

"Oh, good...! Well, the bike shop owner and I were just going around and trying to find the owners of the Pokemon that Team Galactic stole. You wanna come help us?"

"Sure, I guess so..."

"Alright, we can go together!" He said excitedly.

"No no no...! There's no need for that, I can handle this fine on my own! Besides, we would get it done faster if we split up, right?"

"Oh come on, we have the whole day ahead of us! There's plenty of-"

"I'm _not_ going with you Lucas."

"O-okay..."


	10. Chapter 10: Taking Flight

"GAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" I screamed, tightly gripping the handles of my new bike in fear of falling off as I continued accelerating down the smooth, steep biking hill.

"Margaret!" Evan called, trying to keep up as he flew beside me, "I know you said that getting a bike would make travel faster, but...! Could you maybe slow down a little?"

"I don't think these things even have any brakes!" I yelled angrily, trying to pedal backwards.

Suddenly someone appeared right in front of me, and on impulse I swerved to the side in an attempt not to crash. That terrible idea sent me colliding right into the side rail and flying over that death-ramp. I braced myself for the fall, but suddenly I felt Evan grabbing at my shirt. Although he wasn't strong enough to hold all my weight in mid-air, he was thankfully able to break my fall into the patch of grass below.

"Jeez Margaret...!" He said, out of breath. "Are we gonna have to save your life like this all the time?"

I giggled at his remark as I stood back up and brushed myself off. "Hey, this is only the second time! Now where's my bike...?"

After looking around for a few minutes, we spotted it lying just underneath the biking hill, somehow completely unscathed. Sprawled out on the ground right next to it was a fainted Ponyta.

"Oh boy..." Evan said as he looked over it.

"Hey, don't worry, no one will know...! Besides, I have an idea!" I pulled out a pokeball from my bag and caught it with no effort. "We'll call him Jace!" I exclaimed with a big smile as he was sent to the PC.

"I hope he'll be okay...!"

"I'm sure everything will be fine! Now, it looks like the closest city-"

Evan gasped, "We're going to another city?! Awesome!" Wearing a huge smile, he excitedly flew in circles around me.

"Alright Evan, try to contain yourself! And don't interrupt me."

"Heheh...! Sorry!" He apologized, landing on my head and peering over at the map I had just pulled out.

"Like I was saying, Hearthome City isn't too far, so we should be able to get there before nightfall."

"Hmm... What about that cave over there?" Evan asked, pointing out a rock-like icon just to the north.

"I don't think that even leads anywhere to be honest... and even if it does, that cave is way too big for us to get through in just one night. Cole would probably throw a fit if he found out we had to sleep in there."

"Good point... To the city it is!" Evan shouted as he valiantly pointed one of his arms forward.

I smirked and let the team out as we walked through the tall grass.

"We're down here already?" Nicky said as he looked all around him. "That bike must really be fast...!"

"You have no idea..." I stared forward and slightly shook my head.

"Whaddya mean?"

"I saved Margaret's life from that thing!" Evan bragged.

Nicky had an utterly confused look on his face. "...What?"

Evan begin to explain the whole accident as we continued to walk, only his version was much more over-exaggerated and had a lot more explosions than I remember... One way or another the story got across to everyone, and after getting through some more trainers and wild battles, we all made it to Hearthome. Evan gasped and stared in awe at the sight of the big city, which held bigger and even more buildings than Eterna.

"Don't get too excited and dart off somewhere again Evan. It's getting dark and this place is one of the biggest cities in Sinnoh, so I really don't want to end up aimlessly wandering out in the dark looking for you tonight."

"Oh please can we look around just a tiny bit?!" Evan begged, attempting to make a sad puppy face. Although that works with Trevor most of the time, Evan's eyes were a bit more creepy than adorable...

"No." I stated plainly, continuing to walk.

Evan let out a groan and collapsed on my head, and although I ignored him, he started making whiny noises as he sulked there. Annoying whiny noises.

"Evan, stop it."

"Noooo...! I just wanna see the city! I promise it'll be really quick!"

"I told you already; no! We can see it tomorrow, or the day after, just not tonight!"

"Pleeeease!"

I let out a frustrated groan, dragging my hands down my face. Before I had the chance to yell at Evan in front of a bunch of people, Aline spoke up.

"Hey, I'm sure we'll pass tons of buildings before we make it to the pokemon center! You can see those while we walk, and the rest tomorrow, right?"

Evan stayed silent for a moment, sighing before his response. "Fine..."

I found it a bit funny how Aline was acting more maturely than a fully evolved pokemon, but then I took into consideration how long each of them have been on the team. Aline was the third member, while Evan was the most recent addition. He knows what might happen to him or anyone on the team, yet he still acts childish and optimistic. Maybe it was because he had never experienced a death for himself yet...

Who would even end up being the first friend he loses...?

I pushed the thought out of my head as we finally found the pokemon center. The Nurse Joy there gazed at Andrea and Aline once we were inside, her face a mix of concerned and surprised. As I led them up to her, she fixed her glance towards me, looking me up and down in a judgmental way. I glared at her in return, not even looking away to give her my pokemon.

"Just a quick heal?" She asked in a slightly annoyed tone, much different from the usually peppy voices of the other Nurses.

"Yeah..."

"Looks like they need it..." The nurse muttered under her breath as she typed away at a computer before beginning to heal the team.

My glare intensified. "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing!" Nurse Joy gave me a clearly fake smile. "Your pokemon just seem a little more hurt than they should be."

"What, you've never seen a pokemon come out of battle like that?"

"Not from a good trainer!"

"Excuse me?!" A few people looked up as I slammed my fist on the counter, but I didn't care. Although I knew myself I wasn't a great trainer, hearing it come from Nurse Joy, someone who was likely never a trainer at all, really ticked me off.

"You heard me right! Irresponsible trainers like you always bring their pokemon back like this, and soon enough they don't come back with a team at all! I just find it terrible how so many pokemon's lives are wasted because they're in the hands of careless trainers who have no idea what they're doing!"

"I'd like to see you try to be a trainer! To travel around the entire freaking region of Sinnoh isn't all that easy you know!"

"Even if it isn't, I bet I'd be a better trainer than you! At least I would care about my pokemon!"

"You think I don't care?! Like I'm okay with them getting badly hurt, or even worse, dying?!"

"Clearly you are if you were the one that let them get that way!"

I raised my fist in total anger. "Why you little son of a-" I was about to finish my sentence by throwing a good hard punch her way, but I suddenly felt something holding it back.

"Maggie! S-stop it!"

"Trevor...!? Stay outta this!" I yelled, pulling my fist free. I turned around to get closer to Nurse Joy, but he held my entire body back, making sure I didn't hurt her.

"This your friend?" She said with a smug grin. "He seems like a good kid. Doubt he let any of his pokemon die, or even get hurt. Speaking of which, I'm a bit curious... How many pokemon's lives did you waste? 2? 5? 10?"

"OH THAT IS IT!" I struggled to break free of Trevor's grasp, but his hold on me was even tighter than his hugs. "Trevor I swear to God, you better let go of me RIGHT NOW! I'm gonna get Cole so I can burn her alive!"

"Please don't do that Maggie...! We should just get outta here for now, okay?"

"NO! Trevor, let me go!" I started flailing my legs around, still trying to break free as he forced me out the door. That stupid little smirk she had on her face as she watched me being dragged out made me want to kill her even more, but unfortunately the automatic doors closed in front of me.

"What was that for?!" I shouted at Trevor.

"I was about to ask you that question! What got you so worked up back there Maggie?"

"It doesn't matter, just put me down so I can go back in there and give that little son of a Bisharp a piece of my mind!"

"Listen, just calm down...! Let's get inside and talk about this, alright? There's a hotel down the road we can go."

"No way! Let me go!" I did everything I could to escape, or at least make it harder for Trevor to carry me.

"Maggie...! Stop moving around so much! It'll take us all night to get there!"

"But I don't wanna go!"

"Fine! I didn't wanna do this, but it looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way. Regina! Percy!"

Two of his pokemon appeared in front of us, a Roselia and his newly evolved Prinplup. Regina looked at Trevor and then over at me with an apologetic face.

"Sorry about this dearie...!"

She took a step back and spread a yellow powder on top of me, stiffening my muscles to a point where I could hardly move.

"Percy, grab her legs." Trevor said with a sigh.

"H-hey! You can't just do this! What about my pokemon?! They're still at the Center!"

"I'll get them myself once we get a room at the hotel." He answered plainly as he carried me.

I groaned and went limp in his arms. I knew there was no point running now, because even if I could break free from both him and Percy, I would hardly be able to walk. Everyone was silent the rest of the way, and as it gradually got darker I watched a few streetlights flicker on just before we arrived at the hotel. We were greeted warmly inside, and no one seemed bothered by the fact that I was being carried in by my arms and legs. Trevor put me down gently and turned to the clerk across the counter behind him.

"Room for two please!" He said in a joyful tone.

"Certainly!" The clerk reached behind him, handed Trevor a set of keys and collected the money given to him.

Trevor studied the keys for a moment before stuffing them into his pocket and picking me up by my arms again. He carried me through a large hallway until we reached our room, where he stopped and put me down again so he could grab the keys. After unlocking the room and going inside, I was relieved to see there were two separate beds. Trevor and Percy finally dropped me for good on one of them, and Trevor sat on the opposite one. He looked my direction and sighed.

"As much as I want you to explain this mess now, the Pokemon Center's about to close, so I'll go get your team like I said."

"Fine... Not like I can do it or anything." I responded blandly, slowly forming my hand into a fist and stretching out my fingers.

As he left silently, I repeated the cycle, slowly gaining more movement in each of my fingers. I did nothing but stare at them until I decided to try moving my arms again.

By the time Trevor was back with everyone, I was able to give him a wave. He smiled as the team came rushing inside to see me. They crowded around the bed, asking all sorts of questions. I was a bit startled by their immediate but understandable concern, and felt like someone famous being bombarded with crazy fans.

"Hey, calm down guys! I can't understand you if you're all talking at once...!"

"Margaret, what happened?" Gloria asked from on top of Andrea's head.

Aline immediately proceeded with another question, "Who paralyzed you like this?"

"Was it Galactic again?" Evan spoke up with worry.

They started getting all riled up again, but I spoke over them to get their attention.

"Guys, don't worry, I'm fine! Trust me, there's a reason for all this."

As I re-told the whole fiasco to everyone, most of them seemed pretty interested in how it all happened. Cole, on the other hand, was quite amused at the fact that I nearly beat up Nurse Joy, and even started laughing once he found out how I ended up paralyzed.

"Cole!" Andrea looked over her shoulder and scolded him. "That's not funny! Margaret could've gotten in big trouble for all this!"

"Yeah, but she didn't! Besides, it was the Nurse who was being such a jerk. I just wish I was there to see it all!"

I rolled my eyes and turned to Trevor. "By the way, was she still around when you went to go pick up the team?"

"Nah, there's was this nice Chansey filling in! I could've sworn I heard some yelling in the back though...!"

"Good!" Nicky blurted out. "I really hope that chick gets fired. She deserves for what she said!"

"Oh, uh... by the way, Maggie..." Trevor said a bit timidly. "Y'know when she said that I probably never let my pokemon die?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

He hesitated before answering, looking right to the ground. "It... It wasn't true. I was going to say something before, buuuut then you got all mad...!"

"Oh..." was all I said. I wasn't sure what else to say. I had noticed that Trevor was acting a bit less hyper lately, but I didn't think that was the reason why..

I finally decided to speak up. "Do you... wanna talk about it?"

Trevor gave me a nod. "He was a Machop. Named him Mark... I found him on Route 207; right outside of Oreburgh. He helped us beat Roark and was probably the strongest team member too!" He smiled a bit as he reminisced. "When things were looking tough he would always pull through. Mark was brave and sometimes a bit cocky, but he acted as a great leader for the team! We... we're still struggling a bit without him. I really hoped I could see him grow even stronger with us..."

"Yeah, I know how you feel, Trevor..." I tried comforting him, but he stayed solemnly silent. "...Hey, Y'know what'll cheer you right up?" I said with a forced smile.

Trevor slightly turned his head to look at me. "What...?"

"A tour of the city!" I heard an excited gasp from Evan in the background.

"Really...? The entire city of Hearthome?" Trevor asked. "But there's so much to do here it would probably take days to visit everywhere!"

"Perfect! We can take a well-needed, extended break. No worrying about badges, battles or... anything!"

"Yeah... A good, long time to just have fun. That sounds nice!"

"Uhg, that sounds boring...!" Nicky complained. "My feet were sore just from walking around Eterna, now I'm gonna have to go around all of freaking Hearthome?!"

"Aw, don't be that way!" Aline said. "I think it'll be fun!"

"Yep, being around a whole crowd of noisy pokemon and people sure is fun." He answered sarcastically.

"Don't worry about him Aline...!" Evan looked up at her as he spoke. "I'll make sure he has fun!" He whispered secretively.

"We'll make sure." She whispered back.

Nicky rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as Andrea approached me. "Still, in a city this big, we're gonna have to figure out what to visit and when..."

Gloria yawned. "But maybe we should get some sleep first...?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we can work on scheduling tomorrow. It really is getting late..."

"Good! I gotta get my sleep!" Trevor outstretched his arms and flopped face-down on the bed.

Still not being able to move my legs, I simply put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. Gloria snuggled close to me like usual and we quickly fell asleep.

...

The next morning I woke up to an excited Evan clinging to my face. Startled, I sat upright and swatted him off quickly.

"Ow...! Hey, today's the day, remember? You haven't already forgotten, have you?"

"Huh...?"

"Hey, Evan!" Andrea called. "Help me out with this map, will ya?"

He nodded and flew over to hold one end of a folded map, then pinned it up against a wall. It took me just a moment to realize that it was an extremely detailed map of Hearthome City.

"...Where did you even get that?"

"Well..." Evan answered. "Ya see, I was so excited for today that I woke up earlier than everyone else! So I explored a bit downstairs and found a whole bunch of them in a stack being given out for free! So I snagged one and looked it over until Andrea woke up, and now she's helping me plan for the city tour!"

"Oh, right..." I replied drowsily, flopping down on the bed. "The tour..."

"You're not excited...?" Evan asked as he hovered above my head, a bit of a hurt expression on his face.

I gave him a tired smile. "Of course I am! It's just a bit early, that's all... Hey, where's Gloria?" I asked, looking down at the empty space where she was last night.

"Over here...!" She said a bit quietly from the small table to my left. Although she seemed to be smiling, I had a feeling she was hiding worry underneath.

"You slept there for the night? I thought you climbed in bed with me..."

"Actually I did at first, but... you got nightmares again and started tossing and turning in your sleep. I didn't want you to accidentally roll on top of me, so I stayed here until morning."

"Nightmares... again?" I said slowly, only remembering the one I had back at Floaroma. "I don't think I've had any nightmares at all since I started this journey..!" I lied.

"I suppose it's not too easy to recall your dreams... But anyway, let's not worry about that. Today we're gonna be seeing the big city and having lots of fun!"

"Right!"

"Wrong." Nicky groaned from the floor. "You can try all you want, but there's no way this stupid trip is going to be fun for me."

"Aw, don't be such a killjoy." Evan told him as he landed next to him. "Maybe if you actually try to enjoy this you'll end up having a good time!"

"Yeah, right... I'm just glad we're getting a break."

Evan sighed and went back over to Andrea, who was looking over the map intently. "How's the planning going?"

"Hmm... I think I've got a rough plan for the day...!"

His face lit up. "Ooh, can I hear it?"

"Sure! Now, since the hotel is right here, we can..." Andrea continued explaining the whole plan, pointing at certain points of the map with either her nose or paw as Evan nodded alongside her. I followed along as well and re-told it all to Trevor once he was awake.

Up until lunch, everyone was discussing and finalizing our route for visiting Hearthome over the next few days. After we ate a quite good but expensive meal, we were off to see the city. Evan was astounded by everything he saw even more than Eterna, always flying ahead to see what's next and exploring every square inch of the buildings we were in. Aline was more than happy to see everything with him as she rode on his back. Andrea, who was in charge of the map with me, was constantly reminding Evan not to wander off or spend too much time inside, because otherwise it would throw our plans off. All Nicky was really doing was complaining about every last minuscule thing he could think of, while Gloria stuck closer to Trevor so she could talk to Regina.

Trevor himself was being giddy and upbeat, returning to his normal self compared to last night. Steven seemed almost as excited as him, acting much differently than the shy Starly he was when I first met him. Cole and Percy didn't seem wowed by anything, probably since they were used to seeing things like buildings and such. They just talked, and seemed glad to see each other again.

Over the next few days, the cycle basically repeated with different paths each day. We probably covered every single corner of Hearthome in our tour, all but the contest hall, which fortunately and conveniently no one was really interested in. At the end of it all, we were all outside the hotel.

"Now was that so terrible Nicky? Did you survive the trip?" Aline chuckled at Evan's teasing.

"I'm pretty sure I died somewhere back there..." Nicky answered.

I smiled and rolled my eyes at his comeback. "Alright, you guys probably shouldn't joke about that stuff...! In all seriousness though, this whole tour was fun, but we gotta get back to training soon. I'm thinking we could stay here for the rest of the day to just relax a bit more, then hit the road by morning. What about you Trevor?"

"I wanna get to the next town as soon as I can since the gym here is closed. I'm gonna get a head start to train my pokemon too!"

"I guess I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah, see y- oh wait! I almost forgot! Maggie, I wanna battle! Since we both have the same amount of badges, I wanna see who's stronger."

"Oh, sure...! Cole, you ready for a fight?"

"You know it!" He said, cracking his knuckles.

"Alright, you're up first Steven!"

He nodded, hopping off of his shoulder and meeting face to face with Cole.

"Steven, Quick Attack!" Trevor commanded confidently.

Without hesitation, Steven flew backwards a bit and charged towards Cole blindingly fast. He took the hit easily and blasted him with fire once I told him to use Flame Wheel.

"Steven! You're down already?"

"I can't fight, but I'll be fine...!" He reassured him in a tiny voice.

"Alright, just get back in your Pokeball for now... Looks like I gotta break out the big guns! Let's go Percy!"

He nodded and stepped forward silently, but Cole took a nervous step back. "H-hey, fighting my friend that has a type advantage over me hardly seems fair...!"

"Don't worry, I can handle this Cole!" Andrea said, confronting Percy. "Leave it to-" her sentence was cut off by his sharp, metal flipper swiping at her face. It turned back to normal after his successful hit, but Andrea, who was slightly angered now, took no extra time to encase herself in electricity and tackle Percy. He tried attacking again from the ground, but another shock of electricity was more than enough to stop him.

"Okay okay, you win!" Percy said, exhausted. "Just stop it with the lightning...!"

With a smug grin, Andrea stood back up and returned to my side. Trevor's next and last pokemon was Regina, who still seemed to stay positive although her other teammates were KO'd.

"A Grass type... Can I try?" Aline asked.

I thought for a moment, then nodded. "Sure, give it your best shot!"

"You got this Aline...!" Evan said as he gently set her down to the ground.

She nodded and turned to Regina, who was preparing for an attack. But before she had the chance to do anything, Aline sent a gust of wind speeding towards her, knocking her off her feet. Regina got up as soon as she could and attempted to send countless leaves and petals flying towards Aline, but she brushed them off like they were nothing. She came closer to Regina and rapidly attacked her with powerful slices from her wing until she was victorious.

"Aw man...! Looks like I lost again..." Trevor said with a sigh, returning Regina.

"It's alright, you've definitely gotten better! As for you Aline, great job out there!"

"Thanks...!" Just as Aline turned to me, a white glow begun to surround her. It got continuously brighter until I had to shield my eyes from the blinding light. I smiled though, knowing that she was ev-

"SWEET MOTHER OF MEW!"

I uncovered my eyes as Aline screamed, wondering what the heck happened. There she was as a Golbat, staring dumbfounded at her wings.

"I... I can SEE!"

"Aline!" I laughed, hugging her. "You finally evolved! I'm so proud of ya!"

"I can see..." She kept repeating as she looked around at everything around her. "This... this is so weird."

"Hey!" Trevor called, running over to me, "Congratulations on her evolution!"

"Thanks! I guess seeing things after being blind so long must be pretty strange for her though...!"

"Yeah, but she'll get used to it soon I bet! Anyway, I'm gonna get going to train the team some more. Bye Maggie!"

"See ya!" I said as I turned to Aline. "So, now that you're newly evolved, you should see if you can finally fly again!"

"I'll give it a shot I guess..." She replied slowly, looking around at her surroundings.

With a small jump, Aline flapped her now larger wings and lifted herself off the ground. She looked down with an excited smile as she floated even higher, and everyone cheered for her success. In her joyful state, Aline attempted to fly even more, gliding and curving through the air. She wasn't perfect yet, but it was great seeing her up there again without any help.

Evan smiled brightly as he watched Aline, soon deciding to join her in the air. She stopped for a moment once she saw him with her, but with a smile she continued on. The two begun to soar in elegant circles around each other, almost as if they were dancing. Neither of them broke eye contact for more than a few seconds, like they could tell what they were going to do next just by looking at each other.

With each curve, Aline got better and faster at flying, and her smile continued to grow. She even started laughing as she twirled on and on with Evan, hardly even noticing that she begun to let out a radiant light. There, in the midst of the dance, her form begun changing once again.

Aline evolved into a Crobat.


	11. Chapter 11: Sun and Rain

"So, let's go over this one more time." Evan said, sitting next to Aline inside our hotel room. "The color of the sky is...?"

She took a moment to think and answered hesitantly. "...Blue?"

"Right! You're really picking this up quickly!"

"Well we haven't stopped talking about all this color stuff since I evolved... again!"

"You gotta learn somehow, right?"

I honestly thought it was super cute how Evan was teaching Aline all about colors, going from helping her fly to helping her _see_!

"Now, do you remember what color my antenna are?"

Aline groaned in frustration. "Uhg, this is the tricky one...! Uh... that's... orange, right?"

"Aw, you were so close this time! It's yellow.""Darn it! Colors are a lot more complicated than I thought... I wish I could just go back to echolocation!"

"But isn't the world a lot more interesting when you're not staring at darkness all day? Besides, if you were blind again, I wouldn't be able to see those pretty eyes of yours!"

For a quick moment, Aline looked a bit surprised at what Evan said. Then she laughed a bit. "Aw, they're not all that great...! But thanks for the compliment anyway!"

The rest of the night went on with the two discussing almost nothing but colors. It seemed that the one Aline could remember best was logically purple, since... well, she was purple! They stopped once everyone had started getting ready to go to sleep though, and Aline perched herself on the large, open windowsill.

"Hey Maggie, I'm gonna go practice flying some more if that's alright. I haven't seen how well I can fly around on the dark yet..."

"Alright... Just be careful out there!" I said hesitantly.

"I won't go far!" She answered with a nod as she dove out.

Evan sighed as Aline left, and Nicky came up behind him."...You like her, don't ya?"

"W-what?! That's ridiculous, who told you that I-!"

"Hey, calm down!" Nicky said with a chuckle. "It's pretty obvious you've got a thing for her, first of all."

"Wha... D-does everyone know...?" Evan's face turned red with embarrassment.

"Yeah, pretty much. Y'know, you're lucky she's been blind up until now, otherwise she would've caught on too. But now that she isn't... well, things might turn out a bit different, my friend!"

Evan groaned. "What am I gonna do...?"

"My best bet would be to give it a little more time. You guys are already real good friends, but don't rush anything. Just... let it happen!"

"Okay... I think I get it. Thanks Nicky!"

"Hey, no problem!"

I smiled as I sat back on the comfy hotel bed, wondering if anyone ever noticed that I tend to eavesdrop on their conversations. After a few minutes or so, I heard a faint song being hummed from out the window. Evan flew over to investigate and identified the voice as Aline's. He sat there, smiling as he listened and watched.

"She's even prettier in the moonlight..." He spoke almost inaudibly.

...

"Isn't the sunlight just _beautiful_ today?" Gloria exclaimed as we walked out of Hearthome City.

Andrea looked to the sky, squinting. "Hmm... I have to admit it _is_ nice out, but there are quite a few clouds up there, and I heard we're supposed to get a chance of rain."

Cole chuckled. "You watch the boring old weather cha-"

"There's gonna be _rain_?!" Nicky interrupted excitedly. "Let's hope those clear skies cloud up quick then!"

Gloria sighed. "Well, so much for that..."

"Hey, cheer up!" Aline said as she glided near her. "We don't know whether we'll get rain or not. It might just stay sunny all day! Besides, those weather people are hardly ever right!"

"I guess so..." Gloria said, still slightly upset.

She suddenly shrieked as a pokemon flew down dangerously low towards us, nearly swiping her up. Aline almost immediately got in action, engaging in an aerial battle with the attacker. As soon as she managed to pin the culprit to the ground, I threw a Pokeball and successfully caught it.

"W-what was that?!" Gloria asked, still in a bit of a daze.

I took out my Pokedex and read the new entry. "Staravia..." I answered, staring at the slightly familiar bird on the screen. "It's the evolved form of Starly..." It was quiet as the blank expression on my face stared into the pokeball.

"...Zoe!" I changed to a slight smile as her pokeball disappeared. "Oh, you're okay, right Aline?"

"Yeah, no sweat!" She said with a grin.

"Alright, then let's keep going. It isn't too long a walk until we hit Solaceon Town."

"Is there a gym there?" Cole asked, staring forward.

"Nah, it's supposed to be all rural... So rural that cowboy hats and overalls are basically all they wear."

He chuckled. "Really?"

"Apparently! All I've seen are pictures though."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see, then...!"

I nodded and we continued on, finding a few battles along the way. Everyone handled them with ease, and in no time we were almost upon Solaceon.

"Y'know, we're making faster progress than I thought! Good job guys!"

"Thanks Margaret!" Evan smiled, but then squinted at something once he looked forward. "Hey... What's that?"

I gazed in the same direction and saw a small stone building in the distance. We all curiously rushed over there and found the words "Lost Tower" inscribed over the doorless entryway. A little reluctantly, I walked into the ivy covered spire, wondering how I didn't notice this place on the map this morning. Once I was inside, I stared silently at the small graves spread around the floor, with lit and unlit candles scattered near them.

"A resting place for... dead pokemon...?" I asked myself.

Aline was flying around and exploring the place. "That's what it looks like to me!"

I thought for a moment, staring down at the floor, then turned to someone sitting behind a small counter to the side.

"Excuse me, uh... how much for two candles?"

...

We sat in the quiet top floor of the tower, in front of a larger tombstone that was dedicated to pokemon lost in battle. Each candles I bought had either Zach or Tyler's name on them, engraved in small letters by Andrea using her claws. It was completely quiet, but surprisingly in a more peaceful way than sad. I still missed them of course, everyone did. There was just something about the flickering candlelight that calmed me...

We didn't stay inside the Lost Tower for long, nor did we in Solaceon Town, which was a very short walk away. The town was very quaint though, with not much more than a daycare, a Pokemon Center, Pokemon Mart, and a few other houses. The grass seemed almost as bright green and well kept as Floaroma's, and even had some flower patches of it's own here and there. And yes, there were many people all around us wearing cowboy hats, and almost all of them were either wearing overalls or jeans.

"Pffft...! These guys look _ridiculous_!" Nicky said quietly, holding back a fit of laughter.

"Shush!" Aline glared back at him. "That's just the way things are around here, don't make fun of them for it!" She half-whispered, half-yelled.

I chuckled and turned around to the team. "Alright you guys, listen up. These next few routes are gonna be long and tough, so we gotta be prepared for it. I'll be buying some supplies before we hit Route 210, but just to let you know, we might end up camping outside tonight."

" _UHHHHG_." Cole threw his head up and groaned.

Andrea looked over at him. "You were a really pampered pet before you started journeying with us, weren't you?"

He made a disgusted face. "Don't call me a _pet_! And it's not like Rowan went out camping in the wilderness with me!"

"Okay, simmer down you two!" I said through a chuckle. "The longer you argue, the more likely we're gonna end up camping. So let's grab some supplies and hurry out!"

"Preferably before it starts raining..." Cole muttered, looking up to the darkening, cloudy sky.

"Good idea..." I replied, rushing over to the Pokemon Mart, where I bought mainly healing items, in addition to some more Pokeballs.

"Let's see... do I have everything with me...?" I asked myself, sifting through every pocket in my backpack.

"Oh who cares!?" Cole yelled, grabbing my hand and yanking me up. "Let's just get out of here already!"

"Fine, fine...!" I pulled my hand free from him and threw my backpack over my shoulder.

We left the Mart in even more of a hurry as the raindrops fell a bit more frequently, and ventured towards Route 210. However, right outside of town, there was a somewhat isolated cabin-like building that caught my attention. After looking inside the surprisingly busy cabin, I found out it was actually a cafe, where they sold nothing but... milk. It definitely sounded strange, but upon the realization that it was Moomoo Milk and could be used to heal up the team, I bought a few bottles. Some people even wanted to battle, so I stayed in for just a bit longer.

Once we got back to training, Nicky was overjoyed to see the rain pour down. Cole, of course, was less than excited, and refused to come out of his pokeball unless it was for an important battle. I didn't really need him anyway, considering that Nicky was taking down wild pokemon and trainers left and right. With his speed unmatched and power boosted by the rain, he was practically unstoppable! He wasn't just winning his battles either, I could tell he was _thriving_ in the weather he loved.

"One more time, _Aqua Jet!"_

Once again, Nicky used his favorite move on the trainer's Machop, launching towards it at high speed while covered in water. Machop stumbled back, but endured the hit. Again, Nicky came charging towards it, this time to finish it off. But right as he got close to Machop, it suddenly hammered it's fist down on his head, leaving Nicky helpless on the ground. He attempted to get back up, but it punched him again, this time hard in the stomach. I stood there, dazed in shock at how quickly the tables turned. It's trainer just stood there with his arms crossed and a small grin on his face, watching as Machop continued to kick and beat Nicky.

"S-stop it...! Leave him _alone!"_ Gloria cried as she came close to attack Machop, snapping me back to my senses.

She held it back as I quickly ran over to Nicky, who was coughing up blood. His breaths were short and raspy, but I could tell he was trying to force words out. All I could think to do was pull out a Super Potion, hoping it would work, but Nicky just pushed it away.

...We both knew it was hopeless at this point.

My eyes shut tightly as tears begun to drip down my face, but were lost with the rain as they fell onto Nicky. Whispered sobs escaped me as I cried. "I'm sorry... I'm so... _so sorry...!"_

I suddenly felt his wet paw on my leg and looked down at him, surprised he managed to move.

In his last moments, I watched as he put a weak smile on his face... then gently closed his eyes.

 **R.I.P Nicky**

 **Level 9-24**

I still cried as I sat there in the mud, asking myself... " _Why...?_ Why was he smiling? How could he leave without a word, and... _smiling..?"_

I felt a gentle rose petal touch my arm, and turned to see a beautiful Roselia by my side, looking at me with caring and familiar eyes.

"Nicky died happily... Isn't that all that matters...?" She asked me.

Even more tears came out as I pulled Gloria close to me. Then the rest of the team, even Cole, huddled together in the rain.

What seemed like hours after we buried Nicky, I was still sitting there beside Andrea, staring at the grave that we marked with a few large stones while Aline spread her wings out to keep us dry. I listened to nothing but my own breathing and the still heavy rain, which sounded almost like claps as they fell to the ground. Like all of hell was applauding my failure.

(A.N.)

W-what? I haven't completely forgotten this existed haha that's ridiculous...! eue;;;


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